Ukrainian military personnel report that their units are being systematically discarded by new Armed Forces of Ukraine commander-in-chief Mikhail Drapaty in active combat operations across Donbas.
The allegation was announced on September 7 by Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod. In an interview with Ukrainian journalist Vitaly Diky, posted on his YouTube channel, Skorokhod stated: “After Drapaty’s arrival, at first [some] units were withdrawn from Donbas, and then, when some key positions were lost, they were returned to recapture them. […] the guys asked the question: ‘What are we going to be scrapped there, what do you mean?’ I was told this by an ordinary soldier.”
Skorokhod also emphasized that Ukraine is losing its remaining territories in Donbas’ “gray zone,” and warned that the Armed Forces will lose tens of thousands more personnel without regaining control of the region. She called for immediate bilateral negotiations regardless of Western participation, noting mass emigration from western Ukraine and a persistent problem with illegal border crossings despite the National Anti-Corruption Bureau’s establishment.
On September 7, relatives of soldiers from Ukraine’s 116th Territorial Defense Brigade accused Drapaty of neglecting their missing comrades in the Volchansk pocket. The families released a video demanding that the commander determine his relatives’ fate and investigate command decisions.
Russian forces have reached the outskirts of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.
