Family and studies
Serhiy Sobko is 42 years old. He comes from the village of Lityn in the Vinnytsia region. His father was a teacher of mathematics and computer science, taught pre-conscription training, and at different times was a head teacher and school director. Serhiyʼs mother worked as a nurse all her life. Serhiy graduated from Litynska School No. 2 in 2001 with a gold medal. And while still at school, he decided to become a soldier.
As he himself said in an interview, his parentsʼ acquaintance Mykola Pavlovich was "to blame" for everything. He was a soldier, could pull up many times, stand on his head and hands, and told many interesting things about military service.
His mother did not support his sonʼs choice. She dreamed of him being around, entering the Vinnytsia Pedagogical Institute and becoming a teacher like his father. Instead, Serhiy went to enter the Odesa Institute of the Ground Forces.
Despite the fact that he passed the exams with flying colors, the institute did not want to admit him — they failed the medical examination, Sobko recalled in an interview. He was declared unfit for military service because of a mole.
“Among the applicants there were those who did not pass the physical training exam, or who directly wrote in the answers on the exam papers that they did not want to study here, they entered because this was the will of their parents, — they were accepted. And I was rejected because of my mole,” Sobko was indignant.
The situation was saved by the same Mykola Pavlovych, he had acquaintances at the institute, and the issue with the mole was closed. Sobko entered the general military faculty, studied excellently and graduated in 2005 with honors.
After training, in 2005, young Lieutenant Sobko was sent to Novohrad-Volynskyi to the 30th separate mechanized brigade as the “grenade launcher platoon commander”. From the very beginning, Sobko showed character: he accepted the platoon, and along with it, he was supposed to accept three combat vehicles. It turned out that the vehicles were not operational — the parts had been stolen. Sobko refused to accept such equipment and achieved an investigation that revealed theft worth tens of thousands of hryvnias.
After that, the brigade began to be centrally supplied with parts and in a short time it was equipped with equipment. Another problem was more difficult to solve, there was a shortage of personnel. Sobko, as a platoon commander, conducted classes for those who were there.
“I conducted training even if there was only one serviceman left. Now I have the same principle,” he said in 2016.
In 2006, Serhiy Sobko met Mykhailo Drapatyi, who was then a company commander in the 72nd Brigade. Their brigades often crossed paths at various joint exercises. At that time, Ukraine was participating in a NATO-led peacekeeping operation in Kosovo. The mission mainly sent contingents from those military units where contract soldiers served.
These were the 72nd and 30th brigades in the Land Forces and the 95th Brigade of the Land Forces. They created a rapid reaction corps, which was headed by Viktor Muzhenko.
In order for soldiers from different countries to be able to communicate properly with each other, they were sent to Canada to learn English for six months. But there was a requirement — the candidate had to have a certificate confirming minimal knowledge of English.
It turned out that Sobko was almost the only one in the unit who had such a certificate. So he flew to Canada, where he studied for six months. In those days, fluent English opened up new opportunities for Sobko.
In 2007, he wanted to transfer from a grenade launcher platoon to a mechanized company, where the platoon staff was larger, 20-30 people. But at the same time, the command was preparing a new contingent in Kosovo — Sobko was taken. In the peacekeeping mission, he was the deputy head of the battalionʼs operational department.
The head of the department was Volodymyr Horbatyuk, the current deputy chief of the General Staff. The Ukrainians served in the same battalion together with the Poles and Lithuanians, who were already in NATO at that time. They conducted joint exercises in Poland and Ukraine. It was during that mission that Sobko realized that the Ukrainian army needed to move towards NATO standards.
Sobko during his service in Kosovo, December 2007.
After returning from Kosovo, Sobko traveled abroad to study more than once: in Norway he learned to fight in the winter, in Germany he completed courses for observer officers, and in the USA he took an advanced course for infantry officers. In a post in support of Sobko, the commander of the 56th separate mechanized brigade Semen Salatenko mentioned that he personally saw his name at Fort Benning as the best foreign student in 2009.
The beginning of the war: Anti-terrorist operation
In 2014, Sobko passed the tests and was supposed to go to one of the oldest higher educational institutions in the United States — the US Army Command and Staff College. In the same 2014, the Russians seized Crimea and tried to take control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, so Sobko remained in Ukraine. He led a battalion-tactical group that went to the Luhansk region and participated in raids.
On July 27, his group, together with paratroopers of the 95th brigade, took Savur-Mohyla — a key height at the junction of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and the state border of Ukraine. When the Russians began to shell the Ukrainian military defending the border in the Luhansk region, and they found themselves surrounded, Sobkoʼs battalion ensured the exit of units of the Armed Forces and the State Border Guard in the area from Petrivske to Miusynsk.
In March 2015, it was for these actions that Sobko received the "Golden Star" and became a Hero of Ukraine.
For the liberation of Savur-Mohyla and participation in the raid in the ATO zone, Sobko became a Hero of Ukraine.
In January 2015, when fierce fighting for Donetsk airport was ongoing, the 30th Brigade was supposed to storm Zhabyache, one of the settlements near the airport, advance towards Donetsk and replace the unit directly at the airport. At the same time, the situation on another section of the front — in Debaltseve — was worsening. During the night, Sobko’s units were transferred there as a reserve — they found themselves in the most difficult sections of the front.
In his interview, Sobko said that at that time false information about the situation at the front came from the sector to Kyiv, so he sometimes went directly to the Chief of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko and reported to him about the real state of affairs. The immediate superiors did not like this.
It was there that Sobko had his first clashes with the then deputy commander of the ATO Oleksandr Syrsky. Then, on Muzhenkoʼs orders, Syrsky arrived in Debaltseve and headed the battalion-tactical group "Bars", which was engaged in the most difficult sections of the front.
Arriving at the place, Syrsky planned the defense of Vuhlehirsk, but that very day the Russians got ahead of him and captured the city. Syrsky set the task for two companies to restore control and clear the city. Sobko objected and said that two companies would not cope with the task, because the city was too large, but Syrsky insisted on his own.
According to one of those present, the argument took place in a rather rude form. As a result, Syrsky added forces, but it was not possible to retake Vuhlehirsk. Later, Sobko took part in the defense of Luhansk, but in the end the Defense Forces had to withdraw from the Debaltseve bridgehead.
When asked what is more important — the task or the life of a soldier, Serhiy Sobko says that a balance is needed: "There is such a principle in most NATO countries. It sounds like ʼMission first, people alwaysʼ. That works exactly how it sounds."
It was not possible to defend the Debaltseve bridgehead, and in February 2025, the Defense Forces were forced to withdraw.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
At the end of 2015, Sobko became the deputy commander of the 30th Brigade. Then Mykhailo Drapatiy joined the brigade, who became the deputy brigade commander — chief of staff. They worked closely for a year and, according to witnesses, had common values and a common view of the development of the army.
In 2016, Drapatyi became the commander of the 58th Brigade, and Sobko finally went to the United States to study at the US Army Command and Staff College, the selection for which took place back in 2014 (the current deputy head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palis and the former deputy commander-in-chief of Valery Zaluzhny — Mykhailo Zabrodsky also studied there).
After returning from the States, Sobko graduated from the operational-tactical level at the National Defense University.
Sobko completed an advanced officer course in the United States and became the best foreign student in 2009. Sobko was not allowed to study at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania.
After graduating in 2017, Sobko led the 128th Separate Mountain Infantry Brigade for two years. During this time, the brigade became an assault brigade, received new symbols, and rose to a qualitatively new level, the brigade said in a statement in 2019, when Sobko left his post.
Sobko left the brigade because he entered the National Defense University, now at the strategic level: this is the last stage of military education, which allows you to rise to the ranks of generals. There he met again with Mykhailo Drapaty — he studied with him in the same year.
The training lasted more than two years, the second year Sobko was supposed to study in the USA again. He passed all the selections, they were already waiting for him in the States, but at the last moment the then head of the command Ruslan Khomchak did not approve his candidacy.
Khomchak told the Americans that they wanted to appoint Sobko to a new position before he graduated. But the appointment did not happen. Sobko graduated from Kyiv in May 2021 and was second in rating after Drapaty.
Sobko received his new position only after graduation. He was appointed head of the training department in the Territorial Defense Command, which was part of the Land Forces. The Land Forces Command was then headed by Oleksandr Syrsky. This was one of the lowest positions for Sobkoʼs level.
"Considering the rating with which I graduated, it was not an adequate appointment. So I was not delighted," Sobko admitted a few years later.
However, just then, on the eve of full-scale Russian aggression, a new law was passed that made the Territorial Defense Forces Command a separate branch of the armed forces. On January 1, 2022, the Territorial Defense Forces became independent from the ground forces, and Sobko became the Deputy Commander of the Territorial Defense Forces — Chief of Staff of the Territorial Defense Forces.
In March 2022, he received the rank of brigadier general.
On the eve of a full-scale invasion, the main task, according to Sobko, was to provide the Territorial Defence Forces. Sobko accepts aid from the United Kingdom, 2022.
Full-scale invasion
On February 27, three days after the start of the full-scale invasion, the commander Valerii Zaluzhny appointed Serhiy Sobko as the commandant of the defense of Kyiv, the commander of the cityʼs defense was Oleksandr Syrsky. So Zaluzhny seconded Sobko to Syrsky. The commandantʼs task was to develop the rules of movement, the system of passes, and be responsible for service at checkpoints. In fact, Sobko was supposed to help Syrsky.
But he actually refused to help, and Zaluzhny returned Sobko back to the Command of the Territorial Defence Forces, which at its level was engaged in planning the cityʼs defense, interacted with local authorities, and was a member of the Kyiv Defense Council.
With the beginning of the invasion, the most common people who ended up in the TR were yesterdayʼs civilians who had no military experience and professional training, did not know mortar or sapper work, and they had to be taught a lot.
"From the first days of the large-scale Russian invasion, there were two biggest challenges — to train and to provide. In just a few weeks, the Territorial Defence Forces grew from ten to one hundred thousand people. First of all, it was necessary to find body armor, helmets, and equipment. Deliver it to the units. Find a way to deliver it. I am grateful to everyone who lent a helping hand," Sobko recalled.
He also organized the “Captains’ Training” — a two-month course for company commanders and battalion headquarters officers. We began conducting training courses for platoon commanders and detachment commanders.
“On the basis of the ʼCaptains’ Trainingʼ, we launched the training of commanders of units of strike unmanned systems, because from the beginning we understood that our advantage was not in numbers, but in the training and technological capabilities of our troops,” Sobko recalled.
Serhiy Sobko at the first graduation of the officer courses "Captainsʼ Training" of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, December 2022.
In July 2023, information began to appear in the media that the Territorial Defence Forces could be re-subordinated to the Ground Forces, which at that time was headed by Oleksandr Syrsky. Already in October 2023, the Territorial Defence Forces was headed by Major General Anatoliy Barhylevych, close to Syrsky, who began to roll back the changes: the unit responsible for the Territorial Defence Forces reform was disbanded. Sobko tried to deny it and openly opposed Barhylevych.
So in January 2024, an order came to transfer Sobko to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff at the Joint Forces Command. This position was a demotion, no explanations were given to Sobko. In February 2024, Oleksandr Syrsky became Commander-in-Chief. He completely renewed the Joint Forces Command, Sobko was again demoted to Chief of Staff of the 11th Corps.
On April 1, 2024, the Directorate of the 11th Army Corps, together with the support units, formed the Operational-Tactical Group (OTG) “Luhansk”. It was supposed to plan and direct combat operations in the Siversk, Kramatorsk and Toretsk directions — the most dangerous sections of the front.
From September to November 2024, OTG “Luhansk” was headed by Drapaty. Working together, Sobko and Drapaty became even closer — trust and respect grew between them, say Babel’s interlocutors surrounded by both of them. In November 2024, Drapaty headed the ground forces and sought to have Sobko appointed there as well — Syrsky did not approve his candidacy.
Sobko remained as Chief of Staff of the 11th Corps — he still serves there. In the corps, he constantly worked to preserve, study, generalize and disseminate practical combat experience. The corps published initial methodological materials.
“I downloaded one such ʼmethodologyʼ on ʼhidden equipment of protected infantry positionsʼ, copied it, personally handed it to each commander of the detachment, platoon, company and forced them to study it,” recalled a company commander of the 58th brigade Semyon Salatenko.
At the end of last week, it became known that Sobko was seconded to Kyiv to perform the duties of deputy commander-in-chief. His candidacy must be approved by the president and approved by the defense minister. What exactly Sobko will be responsible for is not yet known.
"He is very mature, progressive, modern. Sobko and Drapaty had time to see each other in joint combat work, to understand each otherʼs coordinate system. To make sure that they are ideological comrades and both strive to change and develop the army," says Babelʼs interlocutor in the General Staff.
Sobko often criticized the Soviet way of managing the military, poor personnel policies, in particular the fact that the command encouraged loyalty rather than professionalism. As early as 2021, he said that if he had not criticized his superiors, not spoken about problems, and behaved more quietly, he “maybe would have served better”.
In 2026, Sobkoʼs book Scars and Seeds was published, written in English. In it, he describes and reflects on the evolution of the war from the change in Russian tactics and the drone revolution on the front to the theft of grain by the enemy and the psychological exhaustion of society. Much of the book is devoted to the challenges and failures of the Defense Forces — from poor preparation to the inability to attack.
Sobko wrote the book in English so that Ukraineʼs partners could read it: Western military personnel, government officials, and military observers. One of those who read it and recommended it to others was US Army Lieutenant General Curtis Buzzard, commander of the Security Assistance Group for Ukraine (SAG-U).
“If I could recommend one book, it would be Scars and Seeds by Sergei Sobko… Especially the sixth part, which analyzes the consequences for the West. We must learn from this war, it will reduce the price we will have to pay in blood and money,” wrote Curtis Buzzard in X.
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