Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyy publish posts: The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is offered to leave, but also to stay
8 February 2024 18:07
This evening, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi published almost simultaneous posts that made it unclear whether the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces had been dismissed, reports 
Zelensky said that he had met with Zaluzhny and had a serious conversation, including about reshuffling the Armed Forces.
“I met with General Valeriy Zaluzhny. I thanked him for two years of defending Ukraine…”
– the President said.
According to Zelenskyy, during the meeting, they discussed the updates that the Armed Forces need, and also raised the question of who could be in the renewed leadership of the army.
“The time for such an update is now. I offered Valeriy Fedorovych to continue to be in the team,”
– zelensky added.
On his Telegram channel , theCommander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that Ukraine’s battle continues today, and the tasks of 2022 are different from those of 2024. Because of this, everyone must change and adapt to new realities.
According to Zaluzhnyi, he and the President had an important and serious conversation during which decisions were made on the need to change approaches and strategies.
“I am proud of each and every person in the Armed Forces of Ukraine who defend the future of our children. All soldiers, sergeants and officers. I bow my head to all those who gave their lives for Ukraine and freedom. We remember and we will avenge them all. Ukrainians will definitely win,”
– the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief added.
Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said that a decision had been made today to change the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to him, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi has “one of the most difficult tasks – to lead the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the great war with Russia”.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine, together with the entire people of our country, have demonstrated to the whole world that Ukraine will fight for its own and its people, regardless of the enemy it is facing. Our soldiers repelled the aggressor’s invasion, defended our statehood, and continue to defend our independence every day. But war does not remain the same. War changes and requires changes. The combat operations of 2022, 2023 and 2024 are three different realities. 2024 will bring new changes that we must be prepared for. We need new approaches, new strategies,”
– Umerov wrote.
Zaluzhny’s resignation
About a week ago, rumours began to spread online that the President of Ukraine had allegedly decided to dismiss the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.
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 seem to constantly disagree on 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.
