Military intrigues

Former mafiosi given top military position. 'Collective coverups and impunity'. The Syrsky-Drapaty shadow war. Evaluating the new drone strategy.

A millionaire who emerged from the mafia put in charge of Ukraine’s drone forces. Complex struggles between kingpins in the army. The struggle between ideological nationalists and the ‘corrupt soviet generals’. Ukraine’s new drone strategy, and the likelihood it could succeed.

Personally, I find such processes more interesting than yet another bit of Mission Impossible stunting. June 1 transfixed western media with Ukraine’s drone attacks deep inside Russia. But more important things happened that very day.

A few hours after the videos of burning Russian aviation flew across the media, amidst the hysteric euphoria of the Ukrainian news sphere, General Mykhailo Drapaty announced his resignation from the post of Commander of the Ground Forces.

I was quite surprised. Drapaty became a star of the army since his appointment in November 2024, hailed as an ultra-competent replacement for ‘corrupt old Soviet generals’. Both pro-Zelensky media and Azovite militarists were united in praising him. He was credited with slowing Russian advances in the first few months of 2025. Now why was he leaving, and what subterranean struggles in the military elite did it signify?

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