President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Thursday, May 9, replaced Colonel Serhii Lupanchuk as Commander of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with Brigadier General Oleksandr Trepak.

Brigadier General Olexandr Trepak has served in the third separate Special Forces Regiment, based in the Kirovohrad-region city of Kropyvnytskyi since 2008.

He led the defense of a small arms storage arsenal in the village of Praskoveyevka, a suburb of Bakhmut (at that time known as Artemivsk), near the Donetsk airport, from Aug. 27 to Oct. 3, 2014.

Trepak was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine in February 2015, along with the order of the Golden Star.

Known by the call sign “Redut,” Trepak was the inspiration for a character of the same name in Akhtem Seitablaev's 2017 film “Cyborgs,” which depicts the defense of Donetsk airport.

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In December 2021, Trepak was promoted to brigadier general. Previously, Zelensky appointed Serhii Lupanchuk as head of the SSO on Nov. 3, 2023, replacing Viktor Khorenko.

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