In June 2024, the President of Ukraine appointed Andriy Hnatov as the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, transferred Major General Andriy Hnatov, who previously headed the Operational-tactical Group "Khortytsia", to the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, led by General Anatoliy Barhilevych. He announced this in an address on January 26.
"His task is to reach a new level of operational headquarters preparation and the highest quality of interaction between headquarters and the front," emphasized the head of state.
Andriy Hnatov graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Tank Troops in 2001. His service began in the Marine Battalion, where he worked in Crimea until the annexation of the peninsula by Russia. Remaining faithful to his oath, Hnatov moved to mainland Ukraine and continued service in the Armed Forces.
From 2016 to 2018, he served as the Chief of Staff of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade. From 2018 to 2021, he led this brigade, which was renamed in honor of Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilynskyi. Under his leadership, units of the renewed Marine Corps were formed, including parts that left occupied Crimea.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Andriy Hnatov was appointed Deputy Commander of the troops of the Operational Command "South". In the same year, he took command of the defense of Mykolaiv, and in November 2022, he became one of the leaders of the liberation of the Kherson region.
For his merits in defensive operations, in June 2022, Hnatov was awarded the rank of Brigadier General. In 2023, he led the defense of Bakhmut, which was in the responsibility zone of the operational-strategic group of troops "Khortytsia".
On June 24, 2024, by presidential decree, Andriy Hnatov became the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Hnatov also has numerous state awards, including the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and the Cross of Military Merit.