Comments come as speculation continues president is preparing to fire commander of armed forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has admitted publicly for the first time that he is seeking to replace the country’s most senior military commander, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
“A reset, a new beginning is necessary,” Zelensky told the Italian outlet Rai News in an interview broadcast on Sunday night, when asked about rumours of Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal.
Zaluzhnyi, who has led the armed forces since before Russia’s full-scale invasion, is a largely popular figure among soldiers and society at large, meaning replacing him could be a politically risky decision.
While I think Zelinskiy is an amazing leader, he’s not infallible. War time leaders, especially when locked into a (even if temporary) stalemate. Sometimes our thirst for constant progression outweighs the tactical advantage of holding and regrouping. Ukraine needs consistent, clear and unanimous leadership from both political and military leaders.
My personal guess is that Zaluzhnyi has some something bad (like corruption) that is about to become public, and Zelenskiy wants to be ahead of the curve in order to minimize the impact on the country’s defense. This is the only situation where this move would make sense to me, at least.