Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky wants to dismiss the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, The Washington Post reports, citing a source from among high-ranking Ukrainian officials close to the presidential administration. Zelensky is choosing a new army commander out of a desire to restore the popularity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and convince partners in the West to increase assistance to Kyiv, the source believes.
According to the newspaper, on Monday evening, Zelensky told Zaluzhny that renewal in the army is necessary to improve the country’s foreign policy image in Europe and the United States, since new packages of financial and military assistance from allies are delayed, and there are not many successes on the battlefield. At the same time, the commander-in-chief was offered the position of presidential adviser, a WP source claims. However, the military leader allegedly politely refused Zelensky’s initiative.
According to a WP source, Zaluzhny knows that the country’s political leadership is dissatisfied with the latest events at the front and wants changes at the level of state security. But until now there has been no official announcement of the general’s resignation or removal.
Let us remind you that this week, after sending the relevant documents to the Verkhovna Rada, rumors appeared about Zaluzhny’s imminent resignation from the post of commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, for now the general remains in office and has not made any official statements on this topic. Among Zaluzhny’s possible successors are the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, and the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Alexander Syrsky.
Source: Rosbalt
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