General Shapovalov appointed as new head of Southern Operational Command

Ukraine’s Ground Forces commander, Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk (L), appoints Brigadier General Hennadii Shapovalov as the new head of the Southern Operational Command on April 16, 2024. (Southern Operational Command/Facebook)

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Brigadier General Hennadii Shapovalov has been appointed as a new commander of the Southern Operational Command’s forces, the command said on April 16.

Shapovalov is replacing the command’s previous chief, Andrii Kovalchuk, who was appointed as the head of the Odesa Military Academy last week.

The change took place against the backdrop of broader personnel shifts in Ukraine’s military and political leadership.

Ukraine’s Ground Forces commander, Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, presented Shapovalov with his new command during a ceremony on April 16.

Born in 1978 in Kirovohrad Oblast, Shapovalov graduated with honors from the Military Institute of Tank Troops in Kharkiv in 2000 and from the Command and Staff Institute of Troops (Forces) Employment at the National Defense University in 2012. He also graduated from the U.S. Army War College, an educational institution for senior U.S. military officers.

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Shapovalov has previously commanded the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 2022.

Pavliuk thanked Shapovalov’s predecessor, General Kovalchuk, for his service and emphasized his past achievements as the chief of the Southern Operational Command.

The Ground Forces’ spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent about the reassignment of Kovalchuk, as well as of the Eastern Operational Command’s chief, Serhii Litvinov, on April 11.

Earlier this week, General Volodymyr Shvediuk was appointed as the new commander of the Ukrainian military’s Western Operational Command.