Zelensky fires popular Ukrainian army chief Valery Zaluzny

After almost two years of war and a barrage of rumors, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this Thursday that he has replaced Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzny with the current commander of the Ground Forces, who is very popular. Oleksandr Sirsky.

A few minutes earlier, in a secret Telegram publication, Zelensky had reported that he had met with Zaluzhny, whom he thanked for “defending Ukraine for two years.” He also reported that he talked about “what kind of renewal the country’s armed forces need” and “who could be in the renewed leadership.” “It’s time for that renewal,” he said in a message along with a photo of the two of them posing smiling.

The Ukrainian leader also indicated that he had offered Zaluzny to “remain part of the team”, without giving further details. He said, “I would appreciate your consent.”

After several days of intense speculation, Zelensky had already publicly expressed his intention to reorganize the high command of his armed forces in order to turn the tide of the campaign, with Zaluzny also a target. Sirsky was considered a possible successor to the post, as was Kirill Budanov, head of Ukrainian military intelligence.

What began as a rumor and then became an open secret was confirmed by the head of state himself in an interview with Italian public television, in which he admitted that he was considering the possibility of replacing Zaluzny. Were.

This is a risky move by the President. According to polls published at the end of last year, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces was trusted by 88% of Ukrainians, while Zelensky’s popularity rate then stood at 62%.

When the rumors began to spread, both the Defense Ministry and Zelensky’s office immediately denied Zaluzny’s impending dismissal, but due to reports about the events published by various Anglo-Saxon media, the denials failed to convince almost anyone. The presidency and the army were cited.

According to some of this news, Zelensky even informed Zaluzny that he was fired, and only backed down a few hours later when he saw the outcry the leak was causing in public opinion.

The rift between Zelensky and Zaluzny became apparent last November after the General published an article economist In which he considered that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had stopped and the war had entered a positional phase that could be in Russia’s favor.

The President did not support Zaluzny’s thesis and indirectly described him as a defeatist and then they clashed again over the issue of mobilizing new troops.

Over the following months, the president and the army chief of staff have been publicly critical of the way the mobilization of new troops is being conducted. There are also those who believe that Zelensky also sees General Zaluzny as a potential political rival.

Amid rumors about his replacement, Zaluzny again published a similar article on CNN in which he advocated embracing the reality that Ukraine’s allies would send progressively fewer weapons and more quickly build up a system of their own production. In his opinion, it suffers from excessive regulations and monopolistic tendencies.

With information from EFE.