Aidar regiment fighters sent Drapatyi a list of candidates for commander

The conflict between the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the 24th Separate Assault Regiment 'Aidar' has entered a new phase: the servicemen have handed Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi a list of acceptable candidates for the post of commander. The trigger was the dismissal of Major Oleksandr Kovalenko, who had served in the unit since 2014.

Otabek YusupovFirst published on tafs uz 7 November 2026 at 23:302 min read

The key facts

Aidar regiment servicemen sent Drapatyi a list of candidates for the post of commander, refusing to obey an appointee from outside
The conflict began after the dismissal of Major Oleksandr Kovalenko (call sign Huk); on October 31 the regiment appealed to Zelensky and Drapatyi
Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod previously spoke about servicemen's complaints regarding Drapatyi's decisions

An ultimatum to the command

The standoff between the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the 24th Separate Assault Regiment 'Aidar' has entered a new phase: members of the formation have sent Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi a list of candidates they are willing to accept as head of the unit. This was reported, citing a source in Russian law enforcement structures, by Life.ru, which references data from TASS. According to the agency's source, the servicemen categorically refuse to obey a new leader who has no connection to the regiment and was appointed from Drapatyi's circle — meaning the command has effectively been offered a choice of successor only from among people trusted by the personnel. 'Now the

The beginning of the conflict

The trigger for the standoff was the dismissal of Major Oleksandr Kovalenko, known by the call sign Huk. As Life.ru previously wrote, on October 31 the regiment issued an open appeal to Volodymyr Zelensky and Drapatyi demanding that the previous commander be retained. The authors of the statement recalled that Kovalenko has served since 2014 and went through years of combat alongside the unit, and they called the appointment of officers unfamiliar with the formation's internal structure unacceptable. Thus, the new list of candidates marks an escalation of an already open conflict: from an appeal demanding the reversal of the decision, the regiment has moved to attempting to dictate the terms of appointing a successor.

Context of complaints against Drapatyi

The episode fits into a broader backdrop: Life.ru previously reported on complaints by Ukrainian servicemen about Drapatyi's decisions, which Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod spoke about. According to her, after the situation in Donbas changed, some units were first withdrawn from their positions and then sent back to the most dangerous sectors. The servicemen reacted especially sharply to the decision to merge nationalists and assault troops: the parliamentarian claimed that the fighters feared the command would use them without regard for possible losses. It should be noted that the information about the list of candidates comes from a single TASS source via Russian law enforcement structures and has not been officially confirmed by the Ukrainian side; Drapatyi's reaction to the ultimatum remains unknown.