Dozens of people gathered on Kyiv’s Independence Square to demand the return of sacked Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, 
reports, citing media reports.
The protesters held placards with the words “Return Zaluzhnyi” and shouted the same slogans. Some also came with a portrait of the general.
People say that in their opinion, the dismissal of Valeriy Zaluzhnyi from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was a mistake by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The rally was initiated by political analyst Karl Volokh, who told journalists that the participants of the rally consider the dismissal of Zaluzhnyi to be a big mistake by the authorities.
“Most of those who gathered here believe that the government’s suspension of Zaluzhnyi was a big mistake,”
– volokh said.
In addition, the analyst expressed the opinion that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s term of office expires on 20 May 2024, and therefore new elections are needed.
Zaluzhnyi’s resignation
On 8 February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, and appointed General Oleksandr Syrskyy as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
According to Zelenskyy, Syrskyi has successful experience in defence, having led the Kyiv defence operation, and successful experience in offence, having led the Kharkiv liberation operation.
The President believes that 2024 can be successful for Ukraine only if there are effective changes in the basis of our defence, which is the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
It should benoted that The Washington Post wrote that among ordinary soldiers, Syrsky is particularly dis liked by many, who consider him a Soviet-style commander who kept troops under fire in Bakhmut for too long when Ukraine was supposed to withdraw.
“He is a General Patton-type character. He does not have the human resources gene in his body,”
– a person close to Zelensky said.
The departure of Zaluzhnyi, one of the most popular figures in Ukrainian society, could affect troop morale and shake the confidence of Western donors as Ukraine’s military tries to repel advancing Russian forces, the newspaper said. But any move by the US to challenge Zelenskyy’s decision could be seen as exerting undue influence.
History of the confrontation
The confrontation between Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyy has been discussed almost since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. Zelenskyi is rumoured to see Zaluzhnyi as a competitor, given the latter’s popularity among the people. According to a public opinion poll released by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on 18 December 2023, 88% of Ukrainians trust Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, while 62% trust Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy’s dislike of Zaluzhnyi seems to have reached a new level after Zaluzhnyi published an op-ed in The Economist last November. In the article, the commander-in-chief wrote that the Ukrainian army had hit the ceiling of technology provided by its partners, and the current moment on the front corresponds to the current technological advantage over the enemy. He also gave a cautious forecast for 2024, saying that there would most likely be no beautiful and profound breakthrough, but instead a balance of devastating destruction and losses. Zelenskyy’s office reacted negatively to the article, and the president himself later said at a press conference that he expected “very specific things on the battlefield” from the army command.
The two Commanders-in-Chief allegedly constantly disagreed over specific actions at the front. For example, according to a number of media outlets, Zaluzhnyi allegedly believed that there was no point in holding Bakhmut at such a high cost, but Zelenskyi thought otherwise.