Ex-Unmanned Systems Forces commander Sukharevskyi to lead Ukraine's Marines, media reports

Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi, formerly in charge of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, is set to take over as the new head of the nation's Marines, according to Ukrainian media reports on October 28. The decision to appoint Sukharevskyi, who will succeed Major General Dmytro Deliatytskyi, was confirmed by independent sources to Ukrainska Pravda and Interfax-Ukraine.

Prior to his appointment as Marines commander, Sukharevskyi led the development of Ukraine's drone branch in 2024, but was dismissed after just a year due to conflicts with then-Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. Since then, he has been serving as deputy commander of Ukraine's Eastern Group of Forces, a temporary command covering the eastern front line.

Sukharevskyi's appointment comes as part of a broader reshuffle of Ukraine's high command, launched by Syrskyi's successor Mykhailo Drapatyi, with the aim of distancing military leadership from the former's Soviet-style leadership style. Sukharevskyi gained national recognition in April 2014 when, as a lieutenant in the 80th Airborne Brigade, he ordered his troops to fire on Russian proxies in Sloviansk, marking the first shots in Ukraine's fight against Russian-backed separatists in Donbas.

In the early years of the ongoing war, Sukharevskyi led the 59th Motorized Brigade, one of the primary units responsible for liberating Kherson from Russian occupation. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian Marine Corps units have been engaged in some of the fiercest battle zones, including Mariupol, Pokrovsk, and Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, as well as the challenging Krynky offensive across the Dnipro River in 2023 and 2024.