Ukraine's new army chief Drapatîi outlines victory vision to NATO's Grynkewich in first call, requests Patriot missiles

First contact with NATO command

General Mihailo Drapatîi, who became Ukraine's commander-in-chief on 22 July, held his first telephone conversation with NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, on 29 July. The call came one week into Drapatîi's tenure and marked the first public contact between the two since Grynkewich assumed the dual role of SACEUR and head of US European Command. Drapatîi used the discussion to lay out his military vision for defeating Russia and the capabilities Ukraine needs to achieve it.

At this stage of the war, we must consolidate operations in multiple domains.

He stressed the need to prevent Russian forces from penetrating Ukrainian defensive lines and to expand precision strikes at both medium and long range. Drapatîi also thanked Grynkewich for his personal efforts in securing additional air defence systems for Ukraine, and expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the United States for military assistance delivered through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).

Asymmetric warfare and economic pressure

Drapatîi told Grynkewich that Ukraine aims to inflict heavier losses on Russian forces and further degrade Moscow's war economy. He said the approach would rely on asymmetric tactics and technologies developed inside Ukraine.

We are working to increase enemy casualties and reduce Moscow's economic capacity. We are using asymmetric approaches and Ukrainian technologies for this purpose.

Ukraine has already intensified long-range drone and missile strikes on targets hundreds of kilometres behind the front line, occasionally disrupting fuel supplies by hitting oil refineries. Western media reports indicate that Kyiv has received intelligence support from allied services for some of these deep strikes. Civilian casualties from the attacks have also risen in recent weeks, according to the reports.

Army reform and the Patriot request

The two generals discussed the ongoing structural reform of Ukraine's armed forces, which envisions organising the military into corps and granting them greater operational autonomy. Drapatîi specifically raised the need for US-made Patriot missiles to defend Ukrainian cities against Russian air attacks. Through the PURL mechanism, European states buy from the United States the equipment Ukraine requests, including interceptor missiles for Patriot systems.

Personnel changes and a fake account

Within days of taking command, Drapatîi made his first personnel moves. According to the outlet Hromadske, citing defence sources, he suspended the dismissal of Colonel Shamil Krutkov, commander of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodnyi Yar", and ended the detachment of Major General Andrii Malinovski to the General Staff. The dismissal of Krutkov had been initiated before Drapatîi's appointment. Separately, the General Staff denied the authenticity of a message posted on X that claimed Drapatîi had launched an internal audit. The command stressed that the new chief would communicate only through official channels, and Drapatîi himself wrote on Facebook that his page would henceforth be strictly personal. Ukraine has been defending against Russia's full-scale invasion since February 2022, with military and financial backing from Western allies.