“We’re undergoing reform – it’s practical.” Ruslan Khomchak, then Ukraine’s chief of the General Staff, said this to journalists on March 5, 2020, as he explained why his own job was about to be cut in two. Until then, the same officer had carried the title of commander-in-chief and the General Staff post together. Kyiv decided that was one hat too many.
How the split happened
The legal step came first. On March 4, the Verkhovna Rada passed a presidential bill, No. 3015, bringing into force the provisions on a separate commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. Under that bill the commander-in-chief is appointed on the defense minister’s submission and can be dismissed by the president. He reports both to the president and to the defense minister.
Khomchak made the case for it plainly. “It is beneficial to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is beneficial to the State of Ukraine,” he said, adding that as Ukraine moved in a European direction, officials needed to carry out clearly separate sets of functions “efficiently and selflessly.” He cautioned that the exact duties of each post would be settled once the president approved them.
The decrees followed. President Volodymyr Zelensky named Khomchak commander-in-chief, with Serhiy Korniychuk taking over the General Staff and Serhiy Nayev heading the Joint Forces, UAWire reported. A separate decree set out how the two top posts are filled and how their duties are divided. Ukrinform dates Khomchak’s appointment as commander-in-chief to March 28, 2020. Before that he had held the General Staff post, combined with the top command, since May 2019.
What the job involves
The commander-in-chief directs the armed forces, keeps watch over the state of the army’s equipment, weapons and other resources, and reports to the president and the defense minister on progress toward military goals. Before the change, the chief of the General Staff carried that title as well. In a country fighting for its security, who answers to whom is not a technicality.
A short first tenure
Khomchak did not hold the new post for long. On July 27, 2021, Zelensky dismissed him and appointed Major General Valeriy Zaluzhny, then commander of the Pivnich (North) Operational Command. Presidential press secretary Serhiy Nykyforov said the president had “no doubts about Ruslan Khomchak’s patriotism, loyalty to his oath, and professionalism.” But, he said, the president wanted “a synergy between the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” and unfortunately it was nowhere to be seen.
Sources
- Chief of Ukraine's General Staff explains separation of his post from that of commander-in-chief – UNIAN
- President Zelensky appoints Ukrainian military commanders – UAWire
- Zelensky replaces Army's commander-in-chief – Ukrinform
