Commander of the Ground Forces

Hennadii Shapovalov was born in 1978 in the Kirovohrad region. He graduated with honors from the Military Institute of Tank Forces of the National Technical University 'Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute' (2000) and from the Command and Staff Institute of the National Defence University of Ukraine (2012). He also earned a degree in International Relations from Ostroh Academy and completed training at the U.S. Army War College.

He began his service as a tank platoon commander and later led a company and a battalion. He fully proved himself as the commander of the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk (2019–2021). On 26 March 2022, in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, he was awarded the rank of Brigadier General.

Soon after, he headed the Main Directorate for Military Cooperation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, responsible for liaison with foreign partners. In 2023, he joined the Commission on Coordination of Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

In April 2024, General Shapovalov became the commander of the Operational Command 'South' and led the operational-strategic (later — operational) grouping of forces 'Tavria', which conducted intense combat on the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia axes.

After completing his service in these roles in February 2025, Shapovalov was appointed Ukraine’s representative at the NSATU headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, where he served as chief of logistics, supply, and training of Ukrainian forces.

On 19 June 2025, Hennadii Shapovalov was appointed Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He sees his primary mission in implementing institutional changes that will enable the Armed Forces of Ukraine to operate proactively, efficiently, and technologically.