President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed commander of the 20th Army Corps Brigadier General Sviatoslav Zaits as Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Relevant presidential decree No. 853/2026 of September 2 was published on the website of the Office of the Head of State. By another decree, No. 852/2026 of September 2, Hennadiy Shapovalov was dismissed from the position of Commander of the Land Forces of the AFU.
In 2014, Zaits was participating in exercises in Crimea when the Russians began occupying the peninsula. As commander of a reconnaissance company of the 25th Airborne Brigade, he was responsible for nearly a hundred soldiers. For a month, the paratroopers were blockaded but refused to accept the conditions of the occupying forces. Zaits led the unit out to mainland Ukraine and continued his service in the Air Assault Forces (DShV).
He served as chief of staff – deputy commander of the 8th Air Assault Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Then, in April 2026, Colonel Zaits assumed the position of commander of the 20th Army Corps (previous commander Viktor Nikoliyuk took charge of Operational Command East).
