The first public mentions of Andriy Hnatov appear in 2001, when he graduated from the Tank Troops Institute in Kharkiv. However, he chose to serve as a marine and was stationed in the only region in Ukraine where the relevant troops were deployed, Crimea.
At the beginning of 2014, there were 650 marines in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. After Russia annexed the peninsula, most of them transferred to the service of the occupiers. Hnatov was among the 200 fighters who remained loyal to Ukraine and went to the mainland.
The Marines were immediately sent to carry out tasks in eastern Ukraine. Officially, their base was Mykolaiv, but in fact most of the military were in the Mariupol area. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, they held positions in Shyrokyne. One of the reports from there from 2015 includes, among others, another well-known military man — then a Marine — Serhiy “Volyna” Volynskyi.
Back in 2014, Hnatov faced many managerial tasks.
From the “remnants” of the Ukrainian Marine Corps, as he put it in an interview, it was necessary to revive a full-fledged branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The 36th Separate Marine Brigade was formed, Hnatov was first its chief of staff and deputy commander, and since 2018, its commander. The brigade has been actively developing and has become the basis for the creation of other units — for example, in 2016, a battalion was withdrawn from its composition, which over time became the basis of the 38th Separate Marine Brigade.
Soldiers of the 36th Marine Brigade during the international exercises Platinum Eagle – 2018 in Romania. Even then, they were armed with a lot of modern foreign military equipment.
Wikimedia
Hnatov was not upset by the loss of valuable personnel.
“Even as a young captain in Crimea, I dreamed that our battalion would become a separate marine regiment. Everyone lived this dream year after year — and this dream did not come true. Now I see that every year the marines are taking on the shape that I could not even dream of. Practically everything that can be said about the marines of Ukraine can be started with [our and several other units],” he said. In those years, Hnatov actively collaborated with Yuriy Sodol, who in March 2018 headed the Marine Corps Command.
Hnatov faced a full-scale war as the Chief of Staff of the Operational Command (OC) "South".
In the spring of 2023, when fierce battles for Bakhmut began, Hnatov led its defense. This is how he first found himself subordinate to Oleksandr Syrskyi, then the commander of the Eastern Front ("Khortytsia" operational-strategic group (OSG)). Hnatovʼs subordinate was Brigadier General Pavlo Palisa, the current deputy head of the Presidentʼs Office.
On June 24, 2024, Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Hnatov as the head of the “Khortytsia” OSG, replacing Yuriy Sodol, whose work was displeased by the military and politicians. The Chief of Staff of the “Azov” Brigade of the “Azov” Military District Bohdan Krotevych, who had been actively criticizing Sodol, positively assessed the appointment.
“Hnatov is a very worthy officer, I hope the news at the front will get better. I can’t imagine what problems he will have to deal with, and it won’t happen soon,” he wrote that day on the social network X.
Then, Hnatovʼs career developed rapidly. On August 24, 2024, Zelensky appointed him commander of the joint forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on February 26, he became deputy chief of the General Staff, and in less than three weeks, chief of the General Staff.
One of the key tasks of Hnatov in his new position is to ensure the transition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to a corps system, which is considered more modern and efficient than the current division into OSG and OTG
“He is characterized only on the positive side, he is literate and intelligent, he treats people humanely,” an officer who held a senior position in the Ministry of Defense told Babel.
On June 18, 2022, Zelensky awarded Ignatov the rank of brigadier general and personally hung the sleeve insignia.
“I wish Major General Hnatov great success in his new position. I hope that he will have the opportunity to form a team of officers who are not only familiar with the theoretical aspects of war, but also have real experience on the battlefield,” Krotevych wrote.