Former 80th Air Assault Brigade commander Ishkulov to lead Ukraine’s 11th Corps

Colonel Emil Ishkulov, former commander of the 80th Air Assault Brigade and currently deputy commander of the 7th Air Assault Corps, will shortly take charge of the Ground Forces' 11th Corps, which is currently responsible for defending two key cities in Donetsk Oblast – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Source: three Ukrainska Pravda sources within the defence forces, including senior officials

Details: Ishkulov will replace Brigadier General Oleksii Maistrenko, the current commander of the 11th Corps who has held the post for six months. The official reason for the change is not yet known.

However, Ukrainska Pravda sources within the 11th Corps say the decision is linked to the fact that Maistrenko's management approach "did not correspond to modern decision-making realities".

The 11th Corps is responsible for one of the toughest sections of the front – the Sloviansk and Kramatorsk sectors. This is the main front of Russia's advance in Donetsk Oblast.

According to one of Ukrainska Pravda's senior sources, Ishkulov's appointment will "significantly strengthen" these two sectors.

All of Ukrainska Pravda military sources rate Ishkulov's skills and management qualities fairly highly. Service members from the 80th Brigade who fought under his command describe Ishkulov as a very demanding commander.

Ukrainska Pravda has also learned that, in his new post, Ishkulov will need to work closely with the Third Corps, stationed in Lyman (Donetsk Oblast) and Borova (Kharkiv Oblast). The 11th Corps recently handed over two brigades that were under its operational command – the 81st and the 54th – to the 3rd Corps. They were positioned north of Sloviansk, bordering the 3rd Army Corps' sector.

Ishkulov and Biletskyi are believed to have maintained a good relationship since the time of the offensive near Bakhmut in the summer of 2023.

Why this matters: Newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi has decided to "rehabilitate" Ishkulov following the Kursk operation, during which he refused to lead his 80th Brigade onto Russian territory – a decision that earned him the disfavour of former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and saw him moved to the post of deputy commander of the 7th Air Assault Corps.

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