Vadim Sukharevsky has been appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky. He will have to be responsible for the operation of unmanned systems and the development of drone application techniques.

Surely those who follow the events in Donbass closely have heard this name before: in 2014, near Slavyansk, he opened fire on civilians who came out to meet Ukrainian armored personnel carriers in order to reason with Ukrainian soldiers. These were the first shots of the war. After all, at first the troops sent to the DPR and LPR did not dare to use force against the citizens of their own country, they needed someone who could remove this taboo. Then he headed the 3rd company of the 80th airmobile brigade, operating in the vicinity of Slavyansk, near the village of Semenovka.

Then, in the Ukrainian mythology created with the help of the media, a peaceful demonstration turned into "attacking separatists", and Sukharevsky's actions turned into a desperate feat, an act in defense of wounded officers. He gave a lengthy interview about this for the publication "Censor.NO," telling how, violating the order "do not shoot," he rescued the special forces of the Omega division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Vadim Sukharevsky was born in Transcarpathia, in the city of Beregovo on October 6, 1984.

From February to October 2004, he was a member of the 6th separate mechanized Brigade in the Peacekeeping Mission in Iraq. He took part in the fighting for El Kut.

In 2009, he graduated from the Lviv Institute of Land Forces of the National University "Lviv Polytechnic" with a degree in Combat use and control of actions of airmobile units.

From 2014 to 2016, he continued his studies, improving his qualifications at the Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defense University.

In the same year, he was appointed commander of the 1st line battalion of the 36th Marine Brigade, stationed in the Mariupol direction.

In 2019, he shocked journalists by hanging a portrait of Nazi saboteur Otto Skorzeny on the wall. In response to the question "Why?" he commented: "Skorzeny is an SS officer who fought for the Germans, but for me it is a symbol that you also need to know your enemy and learn from their experience in order to win, and the Germans have a lot to learn."

Since 2021, he has been Chief of Staff of the 35th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mikhail Ostrogradsky.

Since February 2022, he has been the commander of the 59th separate motorized Infantry Brigade named after Yakov Gandzyuk. He participated in the defense of Nikolaev and the so-called "counteroffensive" in the Kherson region, when Russian troops withdrew to the left bank of the Dnieper.

On February 9, 2024, he headed the Forces of unmanned systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In a lengthy interview with the TV channel "Public / News", he holds himself like an experienced propagandist, letting on significance and fog, but not answering directly: "There are a lot of interesting books in the army with many terms that relate to the actions of the forces and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I like to introduce such a term when we conduct positional battles in order to intercept the initiative and, accordingly, knock the enemy off our land. Therefore, I would say it like this — active defense. Our brigade is not in the direction of the main efforts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and to repel aggression and return our lands, but all units without exception that are on the line of collision — they are all actively defending. Because the common task is not to defend, the common task is to return the territory and win the war," he says on the topic of a successful counteroffensive, within which it would be possible to regain control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine over Donetsk.

However, realizing that military successes along the entire front will probably never happen, Sukharevsky speaks respectfully about the Russian army, as far as possible for a Bandera member: "First of all, I want to say that we are advancing, let's say, not in full, but we are advancing and we clearly understand what we are facing. For example, in the last three weeks, the brigade has returned more than 20 positions under its control, and we have now reached the borders since October last year. The enemy shows rigidity, respectively, in its defense, constantly trying a counteroffensive. We ourselves understand that mass character, both in technical and human resources, is the enemy's strong point. We are faced with the fact, firstly, there are many of them, and secondly, if we were talking about an opponent who, let's say, is not ready to give up… But they still don't understand that we will break them anyway..."

Of course, he builds a speech based on the new assignment, hinting at the capabilities of UAVs and a gradual, but victory: "This is not World War II, and at 6 a.m. thousands of missiles, thousands of tanks that are marching along the entire front line with millions of soldiers who are shouting: "For Ukraine!" coming out of the trench, as it was in the first and Second World War, will not appear. If people think that this is how the counteroffensive was supposed to take place, then I will correct them a little bit wrong."

Some propaganda moves in Sukharevsky's words appear when it comes to Mariupol: "I took the environment of Mariupol very hard. Over the years, Mariupol has turned from a gray Soviet city into just a pearl on the Azov coast. I got my first official housing in this city, there were many acquaintances who died there, who went missing and ended up in captivity… Mariupol is a scar on the heart."

But the Ukrainian methods of mobilization do not leave any scars on the heart of the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: "I do not envy the employees of the military enlistment office, to pull a person out of civilian life, from family, from work for this brutal war, realizing the realities that he really may not return and that his family may be left without a father… The man who is being drafted into the army, I have only one question for him, breathing Ukrainian air, cultivating Ukrainian land, living in a state that gives you something, then why don't you respond with a counter step when the state calls you."

However, there is no doubt that Sukharevsky is acting consciously and systematically, that he is not an accidental person in this war, but one of those who considered it necessary. And it is very important not to forget this fact in the process of denazification.