# Chief of the General Staff (Ukraine)

The Chief of the General Staff (Ukrainian: Начальник Генерального штабу, romanized: Nachalnyk Heneralnoho shtabu) is the head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the military staff of the Forces. He is appointed by the President of Ukraine.
Since a decree by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 28 March 2020, the posts of Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces have been separate. Previously the Chief of the General Staff also served as the Commander-in-Chief when a civilian was the Minister of Defense (before 1 January 2019 it was not a requirement that the Minister of Defense be a civilian).
The current Chief of the General Staff is Andrii Hnatov.

## Chiefs of General Staff
### Armed Forces of Ukraine

The office created upon the reorganization of the Soviet Kyiv Military District when its head, Colonel General Viktor Chechevatov, after receiving the offer to be appointed to the post, refused to pledge his allegiance to the Ukrainian people. Originally it was known as Chief of the Headquarters and was designated as the First Deputy of the Minister of Defense. In 1996 it was changed to Chief of the General Staff. In 2002 as part of military reform, the post was separated from the civil service and lost its ministerial deputy functions. In 2005 Chief of the General Staff was reaffirmed as the primary commander of the Armed Forces in the country and was granted a parallel post of Commander-in-Chief. In 2020 another reorganization took place as part of ongoing military reform triggered by the Russian aggression and the post of Commander-in-Chief was split into a separate post.
| No. | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Ref. |
| – | Zhyvytsia, GeorgiyLieutenant General Georgiy Zhyvytsia [uk] (1937–2015) Acting | 23 December 1991 | 4 June 1992 | 164 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 1 | Sobkov, VasylLieutenant General Vasyl Sobkov (1944–2020) | 4 June 1992 | 25 September 1992 | 113 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | . |
| – | Bizhan, IvanLieutenant General Ivan Bizhan (born 1941) Acting | 25 September 1992 | 24 March 1993 | 180 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | . |
| 2 | Lopata, AnatoliyColonel General Anatoliy Lopata [uk] (born 1940) | 24 March 1993 | 10 February 1996 | 2 years, 323 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 3 | Zatynaiko, OleksandrColonel General Oleksandr Zatynaiko (born 1949) | 12 March 1996 | 30 September 1998 | 2 years, 202 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 4 | Shkidchenko, VolodymyrGeneral of Army of Ukraine Volodymyr Shkidchenko (born 1948) | 1 October 1998 | 13 November 2001 | 3 years, 43 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| – | Palchuk, MykolaLieutenant General Mykola Palchuk [uk] (1945–2016) Acting | 13 November 2001 | 27 November 2001 | 14 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | . |
| 5 | Shulyak, PetroColonel General Petro Shulyak (born 1945) | 27 November 2001 | 28 July 2002 | 223 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| (3) | Zatynaiko, OleksandrColonel General Oleksandr Zatynaiko (born 1949) | 13 August 2002 | 3 June 2004 | 1 year, 295 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 6 | Kirichenko, SerhiyGeneral of Army of Ukraine Serhiy Kyrychenko (born 1952) | 19 July 2004 | 18 November 2009 | 7 years, 122 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 7 | Svyda, IvanColonel General Ivan Svyda (born 1950) | 18 November 2009 | 31 May 2010 | 194 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 8 | Pedchenko, HryhoriyColonel General Hryhoriy Pedchenko (born 1955) | 31 May 2010 | 18 February 2012 | 1 year, 263 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 9 | Zamana, VolodymyrLieutenant General Volodymyr Zamana (born 1959) | 18 February 2012 | 19 February 2014 | 2 years, 1 day | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 10 | Ilyin, YuriyAdmiral Yuriy Ilyin (born 1962) | 19 February 2014 | 28 February 2014 | 9 days | Ukrainian Navy | |
| 11 | Kutsyn, MykhailoLieutenant General Mykhailo Kutsyn (born 1957) | 28 February 2014 | 3 July 2014 | 125 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 12 | Muzhenko, ViktorGeneral of the Army of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko (born 1961) | 3 July 2014 | 21 May 2019 | 4 years, 322 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 13 | Khomchak, RuslanLieutenant General Ruslan Khomchak (born 1967) | 21 May 2019 | 28 March 2020 | 312 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 14 | Korniychuk, SerhiyLieutenant General Serhiy Korniychuk (born 1965) | 28 March 2020 | 28 July 2021 | 1 year, 122 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 15 | Shaptala, SerhiyLieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala (born 1973) | 28 July 2021 | 9 February 2024 | 2 years, 196 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 16 | Barhylevych, AnatoliyLieutenant General Anatoliy Barhylevych (born 1969) | 9 February 2024 | 16 March 2025 | 1 year, 35 days | Ukrainian Ground Forces | |
| 17 | Hnatov, AndriiMajor General Andrii Hnatov | 16 March 2025 | Incumbent | 2 days | Ukrainian Marine Corps | |

## Historical offices
### Ukrainian People's Republic
#### Ukrainian General Staff

| No. | Chief of the Ukrainian General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | Bobrovsky, BorysMajor General Borys Bobrovsky [uk] (1868–1933) | November 1917 | March 1918 | 4 months |
| 2 | Slyvynsky, OleksandrColonel Oleksandr Slyvynsky [uk] (1886–1956) | 8 February 1918 | 12 February 1918 | 4 days |
| 3 | Osetsky, OleksandrEnsign general Oleksander Osetsky (1873–1937) | 12 February 1918 | August 1919 | 4 months |

#### Headquarters of the UPR

| No. | Portrait | Chief of the Headquarters of the UPR | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | | Tyutyunnyk, VasylEnsign general Vasyl Tyutyunnyk [uk] (1890–1919) | 1919 | 8 September 1919 | 8 days |
| 2 | | Sinclair, VolodymyrColonel Volodymyr Sinclair (1887–1919) | 8 September 1919 | 26 September 1919 | 18 days |

#### General Staff of UPR

| No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff of UPR | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | | Sinclair, VolodymyrColonel Volodymyr Sinclair (1887–1919) | 28 October 1918 | 19 August 1921 | 2 years, 295 days |
| 2 | | Petriv, VsevolodColonel Vsevolod Petriv (1883–1948) | 19 August 1921 | June 1922 | 8 days |

### West Ukrainian National Republic

| No. | Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Galician Army | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | Vitovsky, DmytroColonel Dmytro Vitovsky (1887–1919) | 28 October 1918 | 5 November 1918 | 8 days |
| 2 | Kossak, HryhoriyColonel Hryhoriy Kossak [uk] (1882–1939) | 5 November 1918 | 9 November 1918 | 4 days |
| 3 | Stefaniv, HnatColonel Hnat Stefaniv (1895–1949) | 9 November 1918 | 10 December 1918 | 31 days |
| 4 | Omelianovych-Pavlenko, MykhailoGeneral Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko (1878–1952) | 10 December 1918 | 9 June 1919 | 181 days |
| 5 | Hrekov, OleksanderGeneral Oleksandr Hrekov (1875–1958) | 9 June 1919 | 5 July 1919 | 26 days |
| 6 | Tarnavsky, MyronGeneral Myron Tarnavsky (1869–1938) | 5 July 1919 | 7 November 1919 | 125 days |
| 7 | Mykyta, OsypGeneral Osyp Mykyta [uk] (1871–1920) | 7 November 1919 | 12 February 1920 | 97 days |
| No. | Chief of the General Bulawa | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | Marynovych, MykolaColonel Mykola Marynovych [uk] (1861–1944) | 1 November 1918 | 5 November 1918 | 4 days |
| 2 | Goruk, SemenMajor Semen Goruk (1873–1920) | 6 November 1918 | 10 December 1918 | 35 days |
| 3 | Myshkovskyi, YevhenEnsign general Yevhen Myshkovskyi [uk] (1882–1920) | 10 December 1918 | 7 February 1919 | 58 days |
| 4 | Kurmanovych, ViktorGeneral Viktor Kurmanovych (1876–1945) | 8 February 1919 | 6 June 1919 | 118 days |
| 5 | Stipsitz-Tarnawa, KarlColonel Karl Stipsitz-Tarnawa [uk] (1883–1954) | 8 June 1919 | 5 July 1919 | 27 days |
| 6 | Shamanek, AlfredColonel Alfred Shamanek [uk] (1883–1920) | 5 July 1919 | 7 November 1919 | 125 days |
| 7 | Ziritz, GustavMajor general Gustav Ziritz [uk] (1872–1920) | 8 November 1919 | 10 February 1920 | 94 days |