Photo copyrightUkraine presidential Office
8 February 2024, 16:21 GMT
Updated an hour ago
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky dismissed Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and appointed in his place the commander of the group of Ukrainian troops on the eastern front, Colonel-General Alexander Syrsky.
“Starting today, a new team begins to lead the Armed Forces of Ukraine […] I appointed Colonel General Syrsky as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Zelensky announced in a video message.
Zelensky called Syrsky “the most experienced Ukrainian commander” and recalled that he commanded the successful defense of Kyiv at the beginning of the war and then a successful offensive in the fall of 2022 in the Kharkiv region.
“I am grateful to General Zaluzhny for two years of defense […] “We talked openly today about what requires changes in the army,” Zelensky said about his meeting with Zaluzhny. “I suggested that General Zaluzhny continue to be with the team of the Ukrainian state. I will be grateful for his consent.”
Protracted dismissal
The Ukrainian press has been writing for at least the last few weeks that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has decided to dismiss Zaluzhny from his post.
At the end of last year, numerous observers and media sources reported a conflict between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Valery Zaluzhny.
The military general, who managed to stop the Russian invasion and recapture part of the occupied territory, is now one of the most popular people in Ukraine.
According to Western media, Zelensky was irritated by the growing popularity of Zaluzhny and his interviews, in which he announced a deadlock at the front and a transition to trench warfare.
Representatives of the Ukrainian government denied that such a conflict was taking place.
Vladimir Zelensky, in his video statement about Zaluzhny’s resignation, mentioned the failure of the counteroffensive on the southern front last summer.
“In the second year of this war, we won the Black Sea, won the winter, proved that we can regain control of the Ukrainian sky. But, unfortunately, we could not achieve the goals of our state on earth,”
“We must honestly say: the feeling of stagnation in the southern directions and the difficulties in the battles in the Donetsk region influenced the mood of society. Ukrainians began to talk less often about victory,” the president continued. “But the Ukrainian spirit has not lost faith in victory. Ukraine retains its historical chance, and it is our responsibility to realize it. This year should become the time of Ukraine, the time when every Ukrainian soldier will know, as before, that the Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian army are capable of winning.”
Last phases of the conflict
Talks about a conflict between Zelensky’s team and Zaluzhny have been going on in Ukraine – to the accompaniment of official denials – for the last few months, and the latest round of this alleged conflict began on November 1, 2023.
On this day, the British magazine Economist published an article and an interview with Zaluzhny, which caused a storm and launched a process that ultimately led to his dismissal.
Zaluzhny, in publications in the Economist, openly admitted for the first time that the Ukrainian offensive did not produce the expected results, and the expectation that heavy losses would exhaust the Russian army was initially erroneous.
The results of the war, according to Zaluzhny, depend on the position and supplies of the West, but, as one could read between the lines, a lot also depends on the political leadership of Ukraine.
In those days, new rumors immediately began about the possible resignation of Zaluzhny and his conflict with President Zelensky, who allegedly had a different opinion about the course of the war.
The president’s team invariably rejected these rumors, but the conflict deepened. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that opinion polls continued to record a decline in the president’s ratings and Zaluzhny’s stable popularity.
The last point of disagreement between Zelensky and Zaluzhny visible to the public was the bill on expanding mobilization. The President did not really want to take responsibility for this decision and tried to shift it to the military command.
As a result, the project was not approved and a new version was submitted to parliament for consideration; it is now unknown when it will be adopted.
Against this background, on February 1, Zaluzhny published a column on the websites of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the American television company CNN, in which, again, as in publications in the Economist, he outlined his vision of the war and the necessary changes in the army, and also criticized government agencies for their inability to ensure mobilization on the required scale , nor the work of the defense industry.
Political calculations
Many Ukrainian political scientists have predicted and continue to predict that Zaluzhny’s dismissal will be Zelensky’s big political mistake: he will create a strong political competitor for himself with his own hands.
“This would be the president’s most fatal mistake – an attempt to fire Zaluzhny. This is the worst thing you can do. This will automatically make him Zelensky’s main competitor,” said political scientist Vladimir Fesenko in the fall of 2023.
The Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), in a survey at the end of November – beginning of December last year, found that the Ukrainian army was trusted by 96% of citizens: despite the stagnation on the fronts in the second year of the war, the level of trust in the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not fall.
Zelensky is still trusted by the majority, but noticeably less than in the first year of the war. At the end of 2022, 84% of respondents trusted the president, at the end of 2023 – already 62%.
Personally, General Zaluzhny, according to sociologists, was trusted by 88% of Ukrainians at the end of last year. And when asked about his possible resignation, 72% responded that they did not support such a decision. Only 2% were in favor.
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2024-02-08 19:30:00
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