«Even I don`t want to serve in the army,» General Marchenko declared that the Ukrainian army had become a «damned USSR»

Major General Dmytro Marchenko. Photo: Konstantin and Vlada Liberovy

Major General Dmytro Marchenko called the Ukrainian army «a damned USSR». He expressed his disappointment with how the state of affairs in the management of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has changed over the last 10 years of the war.

He wrote about this on his Facebook page, commenting recently on the situation when a cadet of the military academy was transferred to a combat brigade after a conflict with the management of the educational institution.

Military Oleksandr Popovych, for whom General Marchenko interceded

21-year-old cadet Oleksandr Popovych, who is studying at the Petro Sahaidachnyi National Academy of Ground Forces (HACB), said that he was expelled from the educational institution due to a conflict with the leadership and is being sent to the front. The military man cited his active position as the reason for this. He complained about the violation of the cadets' rights, in particular the terms of release outside the institution and harassment.

At hromadske's request, the first deputy head of the academy, Colonel Yaroslav Marchenko, confirmed that the senior soldier Popovych was dismissed according to:

• Part 11 of Article 25 of the Law of Ukraine «On Military Duty and Military Service»,
• of clauses 3.2 and 3.4 of the Instructions on the procedure for transferring, deducting and renewing cadets of higher military educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense.

«This is the system and its struggle against those who tell the truth and demand legality. Unfortunately, this is a fact, I hoped to the last that the officials would pay attention to the essence of the problems, and not to the destruction of the one who openly declared them! It's a damned USSR! Even I don't want to serve in such an army,» commented Major General Dmytro Marchenko on the decision of the academic council of the faculty regarding serviceman Oleksandr Popovych.

According to Dmytro Marchenko, during the last ten years of the war, the Ukrainian army returned to Soviet management methods.

«What have we achieved in 10 years of war...? That's it — the Soviet army, unfortunately this is a fact! It's just horrible...I definitely don't want my child to serve in this damned Soviet system!» Dmytro Marchenko wrote.

Screenshots from Dmytro Marchenko's Facebook posts

Screenshots from Dmytro Marchenko's Facebook posts

The general emphasized that the Ukrainian people are fighting for independence, European values, rights and freedoms, but the system continues to «turn citizens into slaves.» He noted that instead of solving the existing problems, the government and the military leadership are focusing on destroying those who voice these problems.

«We are a free people fighting for independence and European values, for our rights and freedoms, but the system continues to make slaves of us. From this whole circus, I saw that all resources were used to destroy the person who voiced the problem, and unfortunately nothing was done to understand and remove these problems! Unfortunately, that was the case, and as I see it, the main problem of the army is not to voice problems and solve them, but to fight against those who do it,» he noted.

Nardepka Maryana Bezuhla also accuses the leadership of the Armed Forces of being similar to a Soviet system

Also recently, People's Deputy from «Servant of the People» Maryana Bezuhla accused the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi and his entourage of ignoring the critical problems with which she addressed them. She considers the military leadership of Ukraine to be an ineffective «USSR» that devalues human life, and that it should be replaced with a new one.

«From left to right — Barhylevych, Pavliuk, Syrskyi, Sodol. The general faction that is destroying our chances for change and victory right now. Of course, not everyone is here. The pathos of the USSR and the devaluation of human life,» she wrote.

The commander of the combined forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Yurii Sodol and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi

In particular, she called the commander of the combined forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol, a «butcher».

«Sodol — The leader of the front since February 2024. A backroom «butcher» who hides everything that any boss needs. Unprepared Kharkiv region, Avdiivka (he was responsible for this direction under Zaluzhnyi for a very long time, and now he is responsible for almost the entire front, a useful general for the Central Committees),» she wrote.

The 35th separate brigade of marines responded to the statement of the People's Commissariat. The military has officially appealed to political figures with a request not to call the commander of the United Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yurii Sodol a «backroom butcher» in the information space. Marines emphasize that Sodol headed this separate unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for more than five years and conducted many operations.

«Criminal, butcher — just such slogans can be heard addressed to him in the information space. That is, such statements are intended for a high-ranking officer, who in 2022 was awarded the honorary title of Hero of Ukraine, under whose leadership 35 separate brigade conducted such successful operations, the realization of which even our Western partners did not believe?!» write the military.

Major General Dmytro Marchenko

Dmytro Marchenko began his military career in the 79th Airborne Assault Brigade, where he rose from private to officer. He has a higher military education and experience in commanding units. As of March 2014, he held the rank of major and the position of battalion commander.

In September 2015, he was appointed to the position of head of the Main Department of Development and Material Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Dmytro Marchenko's responsibilities included the transition of the Armed Forces to NATO standards, the development of new models of physical support, control of the production process and the quality of manufactured products, as well as control over tender purchases for the army.

During the presidency of Petro Poroshenko in May 2019, he received the rank of major general. Ukrainian mass media characterized Marchenko as «one of the main drivers of reforms in the sector of material support of the Armed Forces.»

General Dmytro Marchenko and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. Photo from open sources

In addition, in 2019, the court arrested Dmytro Marchenko. He was accused of participating in the purchase of low-quality body armor. After opening the case, Petro Poroshenko's team called it a slander against the military and a political massacre by Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team against his predecessor's entourage. Together with activists, the Poroshenko family collected 20 million hryvnias for bail to release Dmytro Marchenko from arrest.

From the beginning of the full-scale war, Dmytro Marchenko managed the defense of Mykolaiv. In particular, at the beginning of March 2022, he was appointed military commandant of Mykolaiv. Dmytro Marchenko also managed the forces and means of the Mykolaiv tactical group. The operational area of this group is a large part of the Mykolaiv region, where active hostilities took place.

In November 2023, Dmytro Marchenko announced that he wanted Valerii Zaluzhnyi to run for the post of President of Ukraine in the upcoming elections. When asked whether he would take the post of commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the event of Valery Zaluzhnyi's presidency, Dmytro Marchenko replied that he would rather join his team.

However, in an interview with NikVesti, the general stated that he is not going to build a political career and does not associate himself with any political force.