President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Maj Gen Oleksandr Pavlyuk commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine. The president also issued decrees appointing new commanders of the Joint Forces and the Airborne Forces.
The relevant decrees were published on the president's website on 11 February 2024.
The day before, the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed Pavlyuk from the post of first deputy minister of defence due to his transfer to another job.
Decrees have also been issued to dismiss Serhiy Nayev from the post of commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Yuriy Sodol was appointed to this post.
In addition, Zelenskyy changed the commander of the Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ihor Skybyuk replaced Maksym Myrhorodskyy in this role.
Ihor Plakhuta was appointed commander of the Territorial Defence Forces.
Oleksandr Pavlyuk
In 2010-2015, he became the commander of the 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade (Yavoriv, Lviv Region). Since March 2014, he has been involved in repelling Russian armed aggression. Under his command, the brigade took part in the battles for the liberation of Slovyansk, Krasnyy Lyman, Kramatorsk, Lysychansk and other cities of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In June 2014, some units of the 24th Brigade, together with the 95th, 79th and 72nd Brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, took part in the capture and holding of a 240-kilometre stretch of the Ukrainian border (Amvrosiyivka-Izvaryne). On 11 July 2014, the brigade suffered heavy losses as a result of a rocket attack by Russian troops near Zelenopillya. On 6-7 August, the brigade's units, which held their entrusted lines near Dovzhanske and other areas of the southern operational zone, took part in the so-called Izvaryne breakthrough, which saw Ukrainian units withdraw from a partial semi-encirclement along the Ukrainian-Russian border. Thanks to the skilful and decisive actions of the personnel, the retreat took place on time, with minimal losses. After recuperation and re-enforcement, the brigade under the command of Oleksandr Pavlyuk returned to performing its assigned tasks in eastern Ukraine.
In February 2015, Col Pavlyuk entered the National Defence University and handed over command of the brigade to his successor, Col Anatoliy Shevchenko.
In March 2017, having completed strategic level training, he became the commander of the Operational Command West of the Ground Forces. In summer 2020, he was appointed Chief of Training of the Ground Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In 2019, he received a PhD in Military Science from the Lviv Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy for Public Administration under the President of Ukraine (2021 - Master of Public Administration and Management).
On 28 July 2021, he was appointed commander of the Joint Forces Operation.
At the end of January 2022, Lt-Gen Pavlyuk in an interview with The Times called Ukraine's abandonment of nuclear weapons in 1994 a huge mistake. As an experienced combat commander, he accurately predicted the approximate date of a full-scale attack by Russian troops on Ukraine and managed to prepare his subordinate units for effective resistance.
As commander of the Joint Forces Operation, he led the defence of settlements in eastern Ukraine. Fighting heavy battles against Russia's superior forces, the military units of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine held Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna and other cities of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The city of Mariupol, blockaded by Russian troops, continued to defend itself despite artillery shelling, missile attacks and aerial bombardment.
On 15 March 2022, he was relieved of his duties as JFO commander and appointed head of the Kyiv regional military administration. Pavlyuk was entrusted with organising the defence and supply of the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. As of the beginning of April 2022, the joint efforts of the units involved in the defence of the city managed to push the enemy back from Kyiv by dozens of kilometres in all directions.
On 21 May 2022, he was dismissed from the post of head of the Kyiv regional military administration.
On 14 February 2023, by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, he was appointed first deputy minister of defence of Ukraine.
On 6 March 2023, by Presidential Decree No. 129, he became a member of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff.