On August 18, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the new assault troops department of the Armed Forces was headed by Colonel Valentyn Manko, Hero of Ukraine. Prior to this appointment, he commanded the 33rd Assault Regiment.

Manko is a non-public officer. Most of his media activity is still supplementary. And it is ambiguous. In 2018, Manko, who came from the first wave of volunteer battalions, was supposed to be appointed deputy head of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. But a scandal prevented this from happening – several veterans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that he was a "fake" warrior.

This information campaign was paid for, Manko says in an interview LIGA.net: "Politics was definitely involved in this scandal, and I don't want to comment on politics at all."

After the full-scale invasion, he was able to win Syrsky's personal trust. It was this trust that led to his appointment. As in the case of Roberta Brovdi.

Manko went to the new assault troops department with his team and formed everything from scratch. He says he wanted to implement non-standard approaches as much as possible: "Do you think anyone has more stupid tasks than us? But if the command sets a task, it has to be fulfilled. How – this is your decision as a commander."

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LIGA.net asked Colonel Manko about the peculiarities of the new type of troops and the problems the Ukrainian Armed Forces command is currently facing.

You will learn from this text:

  • how assault troops differ from airborne assault troops;
  • what additional functions Syrsky assigns to Manko and his team;
  • why, in Manko's opinion, there is no crisis in the management of the troops;
  • who inspired the scandals involving Manko until 2022.

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