Brigadier General Dmitry Voloshin, commander of Ukraine’s 8th Air Assault Corps, may have avoided carrying out an order from Commander-in-Chief Mikhail Drapaty because he feared losing positions in the Sumy Region, according to military analyst Yuri Knutov.

Knutov also suggested that internal disagreements between Voloshin and Drapaty could have played a role. In comments to News.ru, he argued that divisions remain within the Ukrainian military leadership, including between officers associated with former commander-in-chief Alexander Syrsky and those aligned with Drapaty.

The analyst said Voloshin’s possible refusal may have been driven less by personal hostility toward Drapaty than by the battlefield situation. In his assessment, Voloshin could have regarded the assigned sector as extremely difficult to hold and feared being forced into a retreat.

Knutov argued that such an outcome could have exposed the general to disciplinary consequences for failing to accomplish the assigned combat mission. He therefore described the alleged decision to avoid the order as a way of protecting himself from the risks attached to taking command of the sector.

The analyst also pointed to continued Russian advances in the Sumy direction. In his view, the Ukrainian command in Sumy understands that Russian forces could soon approach the regional center.

Earlier media reports claimed that Voloshin had failed to comply with Drapaty’s order to return from Kiev to a command post in the Sumy Region.