Drapaty reports smear campaign against him following anonymous posts allegedly made on wife's behalf
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Mykhailo Drapaty denied reports of public statements allegedly made by members of his family and stated that they would not make such statements in the future.
"My family members do not make public statements, do not provide official comments, and have not authorized anyone to speak on their behalf. Any statements or positions attributed to them are untrue," Drapaty said in a statement, published on the Telegram channel of the AFU General Staff.
He said, however, that the position of commander-in-chief will always be a target of disinformation campaigns, which began from the very first days of his tenure, calling this to be expected.
"The goal of such campaigns is to sow distrust within the state and between the military and society. Some of these attacks are coordinated and involve bot networks. I thank the Ministry of Digital Transformation for identifying and blocking such networks. This is important work, and it continues," the commander-in-chief said.
He called for practicing information hygiene, verifying sources, and refraining from spreading unverified information. "We have one common goal – bringing victory closer. That is what I am focused on right now, and I ask everyone to focus their efforts on it as well," Drapaty said.
Earlier, anonymous posts began circulating on social media claiming that Drapaty's wife had alleged her husband was under pressure due to the overly radical changes he began implementing immediately after taking command of the military – specifically regarding the decentralization of army corps, reducing bureaucracy, and changing approaches to operational planning, as well as about his alleged conflict with the army's "old leadership" and part of the president's inner circle. The posts were shared without sources or by citing other users who had not verified this information.
At the same time, neither Drapaty himself nor his wife have any known verified social media accounts.