The President appointed a new commander of the Special Operations Forces

Brigadier General Oleksandr Trepak was appointed Commander of the Special Operations Forces by Presidential Decree.

The news was published on the website of the Presidential Administration.

According to Presidential Decree No. 314/2024, Oleksandr Trepak was appointed Commander of the Special Operations Forces.

He is to become the first commander of the Armed Forces branch to come from the SOF. Previously, this position has been held by:

• Lieutenant General Ihor Luniov (Airborne forces, now Ukrainian Air Assault Forces)
• Major General Hryhoriy Halahan (Alpha Group of the SSU)
• Major General Viktor Khorenko (Defence Intelligence of Ukraine)
• Colonel Lupanchuk Serhii (Defence Intelligence of Ukraine)

Oleksandr Trepak

Oleksandr Trepak is 47 years old (call sign “Redut”). He started his career in the army in 1993, during which he held several positions in intelligence units.

Since 2008, Trepak has served in the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment of the Operational Command South of the Ground Forces, where he became the commander of a special forces unit.

Since 2014, Colonel Trepak has participated in the anti-terrorist operation in the east of Ukraine. In June of the same year, near the city of Bakhmut, a special forces group led by him launched an operation to search for and evacuate the seriously wounded commander of the Armored Vehicle Supply Center, Colonel Volodymyr Chobitko.

Leading a subgroup of eight soldiers, he captured a Russian checkpoint at the entrance to the city and held it for three hours, providing a security corridor for the second subgroup to deliver the center’s commander to the place of evacuation by helicopter. During the battle, he was shot in the leg, but refused to be evacuated and for two days led the repulsion of Russian militants’ attacks on the Central Artillery Arms Base in the village of Paraskoviivka, Bakhmut district, Donetsk region.

After treatment in the hospital, between August 27 and October 3, 2014, he served as the senior military commander for the defense of the Donetsk airport. He was in direct charge of repulsing all attempts to storm and seize the airport by Russian militants.

He personally organized counter-sabotage and counter-ambush activities in the vicinity of Donetsk airport, which made it impossible for Russian militants to block the supply routes for the airport defenders with food and ammunition.

By the Decree of the President of Ukraine from February 12, 2015, Oleksandr Trepak was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine and the Order of the Golden Star for personal courage, heroism, and high professionalism.

From March 23, 2016, to November 3, 2020, he served as the Commander of the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At the end of 2020, he was appointed Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.