"He hates us — and hates consistently." How Russian military bloggers assessed the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The appointment of 43-year-old Mykhailo Drapatyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine provoked an active reaction among Russian military bloggers. However, there is no consensus in their assessments.
Even before the appointment, the author of the Telegram channel "Zapiski Veterana" (Veteran's Notes), Oleksiy Kargapoltsev, predicted that Drapatyi could become a more challenging opponent for the Russian army than his predecessor. According to the blogger, the main advantage of the new Commander-in-Chief is his age and experience gained already during the war.
"Whether Drapatyi will be better than Syrskyi — we shall see. But one of his advantages over Syrskyi, which could turn into a disadvantage for us, is that Drapatyi is very young (43 years old) and energetic. During the events of 2014, he was just a battalion commander and advanced through the career ladder already in conditions of war."
The Telegram channel "Operation Z: Russian Spring War Correspondents" reacted much more emotionally to the news of Mykhailo Drapatyi's appointment. The authors called the new head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine a "Nazi" and "Russophobe," publishing a legendary video from Mariupol from the spring of 2014.
The same video was used by blogger Kyrylo Fedorov. In his opinion, Drapatyi's actions back in 2014 attest to his attitude towards Russia.
"He hates us — and hates consistently. This means he will strive to kill, disregarding any moral restrictions."
Fedorov also used Drapatyi's appointment as an occasion to call for tougher actions from the Russian side.
"The only question is: will we be the same in response... or will we finally regain the initiative for escalation?"
Similarly, the author of the channel "Voevoda Veshchayet" (The Warlord Broadcasts), former pilot Oleksiy Zemstsev, assesses the new Commander-in-Chief. He believes that Drapatyi's main distinguishing feature is personal animosity towards Russia.
"Unlike Syrskyi, who merely called for caution, Drapatyi genuinely hates us."
"This is bad for us," notes the blogger, expressing hope that he will not last long in his position.
At the same time, he tries to belittle the abilities of the new Commander-in-Chief:
"Those who consider Drapatyi a competent commander are mistaken. Reviews of him are very mixed. We have enough people who defected from the other side and claim that Drapatyi is not of that level. Many say he is completely incompetent."
Blogger Vladimir Romanov expressed himself even more sharply. He claims that the new Commander-in-Chief allegedly does not care much for his subordinates and focuses primarily on relations with the political leadership:
"For him, proximity to the top is paramount."
As an argument, Romanov presents his own interpretation of events around Debaltseve, claiming that Drapatyi "abandoned his troops and fled in a minivan." He provides no confirmation for this statement.
The most restrained assessment was given by blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk, author of the Telegram channel "Rybar." He acknowledges that Drapatyi appears to be a more dangerous opponent than Syrskyi, but believes that the influence of the new Commander-in-Chief should not be overestimated.
"On the one hand, 43-year-old Drapatyi still appears to be a more dangerous enemy than the aforementioned Syrskyi. (...) But in the fifth year of the war, the main problems of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (and, by the way, not only theirs) do not lie in the personality of the Commander-in-Chief."
According to Zvinchuk, the deficit of personnel, problems with ammunition, and offensive potential cannot be resolved merely by replacing a general.
"Overall, the personality of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces or the Ukrainian Minister of Defense is far from the main factor influencing strategic alignments today. And replacing one with another does not lead to a 'everything was bad before, and now suddenly everything will be good' effect."
He specifically notes that this principle applies not only to Ukraine.
"By the way, this is true not only for Ukraine. As is the fact that the main problems of one's own armed forces now do not depend on who occupies the enemy army commander's chair."
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