Ukrainian Domestic — 2026-09-11

Ukraines New Commander Scraps 30-Plus Obsolete General Staff Orders

BLUFDrapatyi's purge of ATO-era training rules legalizes battlefield adaptations already in practice but leaves commanders without confirmed replacement standards, risking a doctrinal vacuum.

Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi has suspended more than 30 General Staff orders governing training programs, firing courses, and physical-fitness standards, most dating to the 2016–2020 ATO/JFO period, along with dozens of interim amendment documents 123. The cancellation was disclosed not by official Armed Forces channels but by Vitalii Sarantsev, communications chief of the 14th Army Corps, in a Facebook post 123. Sarantsev said the voided orders had required field commanders to file formal reports and conduct activities against standards eight to ten years old, and that scrapping them eliminates legal conflicts with training practices developed during the full-scale war 123. The move follows Drapatyi's September 2 publication of a set of leadership principles after he assumed command in July 1.

Analysis
The cancellation clears field commanders of formal exposure for training against 2016–2020 ATO/JFO-era standards rather than methods proven since 2022, shielding units that already adapted from bureaucratic risk. Whether the General Staff has issued replacement standards remains unconfirmed, leaving a possible gap. That it surfaced via a corps communications officer's Facebook post rather than a General Staff statement suggests Drapatyi is tolerating or using informal unit-level messaging to push his campaign against Soviet-era command habits, following his September 2 leadership principles. The same fact also supports reading this as presentational housekeeping reinforcing his reform narrative rather than a substantive operational shift. Reporting rests on that single Facebook post, republished by Euromaidan Press, NV.ua, UNN, and Ukrinform without independent General Staff or defense ministry confirmation.

5 sources

Ukraines top commander scrapped more than 30 obsolete General Staff orders - Euromaidan Press
Drapatyi canceled more than 30 outdated General Staff orders - UNN (Ukrainian National News)
Драпатий скасував понад 30 застарілих наказів Генштабу - Ukrinform
Drapatyi scraps more than 30 outdated General Staff orders - The New Voice of Ukraine (NV.ua)
Facebook post announcing cancellation of 30+ outdated General Staff orders - Vitalii Sarantsev (Facebook, via 14th Army Corps communications chief)