Ukrainian General Dmytro Marchenko retires from service
Source: Dmytro Marchenko/Facebook
On Friday, Major General Dmytro Marchenko has announced his retirement. The military leader who was in command of Mykolaiv defenses in the early days of the war, said he will need to focus on a much-needed recovery after years on the frontlines.
“No enemy challenges, no pressure could ever stop my the unbreakable fight for Ukraine. That’s why this decision to step down is the hardest one I’ve ever made,” Marchenko wrote on his farewell statement on social media.
Marchenko’s career includes several critical missions like a reconnaissance operation in occupied Crimea, leading 75 soldiers to safety from the deadly “Izvaryne Cauldron,” and the defense of Donetsk Airport in 2014-2015.
Beyond the battlefield, he pushed for reforms in military supplies and introduced new field rations for the troops—vital changes that improved soldiers’ well-being on the ground.
“Even the unbreakable need patching up now and then to stay afloat,” Marchenko shared. “Military service always demands sacrifices, and without timely recovery, everything can feel like it’s for nothing.”
In a heartfelt note, he thanked his supporters revealing this year will be busy as he has founded the Marchenko Foundation, a charitable organization that will help the military.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.