Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi refused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s order to step down Monday, sparking speculation the president might have dismissed the general, according to reports.
The two have endured a simmering weeks-long personality clash as Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive against Russia stagnates, but the very possibility of the highly popular Zaluzhnyi being ordered to step down shocked many, the Guardian reported Tuesday.
“Personally I think this is a bad idea. There are not fundamental issues between them but Zelenskiy’s office has been concerned that Zaluzhnyi has been making political not military statements,” Oleksii Goncharenko, a Ukrainian opposition MP and supporter of Zaluzhnyi, told The Guardian. He reportedly added that Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, could replace the general, provided Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov gives support.
Umerov dismissed the speculations swirling on social media. “Dear journalists, we immediately answer everyone: No, this is not true,” he said Monday afternoon, according to the Guardian.
The news broke on anonymous Telegram channels Monday evening but conflicting reactions from various sources followed, making the story difficult to confirm as of Monday, according to the Kyiv Independent. Both insider information from Zelenskyy’s office and misinformation about Ukraine have emanated from Telegram channels in the past, Kyiv Independent noted.
No official statement from all quarters involved has come forth yet, Kyiv Independent noted. (Ukrainian Officials Steal Nearly $40 Million Meant For Ammunition, Intel Agency Says)
⚡️Contradicting reports point at dismissal of Zaluzhnyi as top commander, no official decree published.
Zelensky’s spokesman Sergii Nykyforov told the Kyiv Independent at 7:50 p.m. on Jan. 29 that Zaluzhnyi wasn’t dismissed. https://t.co/SFdC1715mA
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) January 29, 2024
Zaluzhnyi had warned of “enormous risks to Ukraine’s armed forces and to its state” from the “trap” of “positional war” in a Nov. 1, 2023 essay for The Economist. Zelenskyy, however, disagreed with Zaluzhnyi’s position and reports emerged that Zelenskyy was bypassing Zaluzhnyi in military communication, according to the Kyiv Independent. Zelenskyy later reportedly said he had a “working relationship” with Zaluzhnyi in response to a question about the alleged disagreement between both leaders.
Zelenskyy mentioned Zaluzhnyi in a Jan. 24 video address on Twitter concerning a plane crash in Russia that allegedly killed 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war the same day. “This 700th day of the war—a very difficult day—first, I summoned Umerov, Zaluzhnyi, [Chief of General Staff Serhiy] Shaptala, Budanov, and [Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl] Maliuk. They reported on the situation with the aircraft and the exchange,” Zelenskyy said.
In his latest video address at the time of this report, Zelenskyy spoke of his “very cordial conversation” with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and praised Ukraine’s progress in domestic drone and ammunition production.