KYIV, July 19 — Against the backdrop of a protracted war, the command structure of Ukraine’s armed forces has a relatively recent institutional history. The position of commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was created by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 28 March 2020, marking a clear break from the previous system where the chief of the General Staff served as the professional head of the military.
Under the current arrangement, the commander-in-chief directs the Armed Forces of Ukraine, monitors the state of the army with military equipment, weapons, and other resources, and reports to the president and the minister of defense on achieving military-strategic goals. The Law of Ukraine “On the Armed Forces of Ukraine” defines direct military leadership as the implementation of measures for the development of the armed forces, technical equipment, training, comprehensive support, and determining the basis of their application and management.
A Position Forged in Modern Times
Before the creation of this separate role, the chief of the General Staff was the commander-in-chief. The change in March 2020 effectively split the strategic command from the operational planning functions of the General Staff—an evolution that reflects the demands of modern warfare. On 5 March 2022, then Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi—at the time a lieutenant general—was promoted to the rank of general by President Zelenskyy.
The promotion came just days after the full-scale invasion, cementing Zaluzhnyi’s role as the face of Ukraine’s military resistance.
Historical Roots and Reforms
The terminology has a deeper history. The title was first used to describe the President of Ukraine as head of the armed forces. In 1993, the title was supplemented with the text “Supreme,” a usage that continues for the president’s constitutional role as Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Until 2005, Ukraine’s Ministers of Defense who served as commissioned military officers—or Chiefs of the General Staff, if the minister was a civilian—invariably held the title of Commanders-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. That changed on 16 June 2005, with the reappointment of General of the Army Serhiy Kyrychenko.
From that point, the title became permanently linked to the Chief of the General Staff. This remained the case until 27 March 2020, when the position was formally separated by President Zelenskyy’s decree. The position today includes deputies, as evidenced by the existence of a Deputy Commander-in-Chief list, though the source does not name current officeholders.
What is at stake in this command structure is clarity of accountability on the battlefield. The commander-in-chief now answers directly to both the president and the defense minister, a dual reporting line intended to align military operations with political strategy.
For a nation fighting for its survival, these institutional arrangements are anything but abstract.
