The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine denied reports of the dismissal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Valery Zaluzhny. In an article on Telegram, the Ministry of Defense said: "Dear journalists, we answer everyone at once: no, this is not true. *The office also denied the reports.
At the end of last year, rumors about the disagreements between the top general of Ukraine and ** spread for several months and reached the public domain. According to the source, there is no conflict - Russia is fanning the flames.
Zaluzhny's background
Future General Valery Fedorovich Zaluzhny was born on July 8, 1973 in Novorad-Volynsky, now Zviahel, as a military garrison, and his father was an active Soviet officer.
He somewhat reluctantly followed in the footsteps of his military family — he said that his ambition in his youth was to become a comedian (like his **). Instead, he entered the Odessa Army Academy in the early 1990s and graduated with honors in 1997; It became the beginning of an incredible career.
Let Ukraine get rid of the Soviet past
He was part of that generation of officers who saw the Soviet-era army through their father's eyes and realized that the modern Ukrainian army needed to move away from the old Soviet military dogma, which relied on rigid, top-heavy decision-making and needed to better resemble the NATO model, in which officers first needed to be leaders, not just commanders.
Over the next 17 years or so, as described on his official ***, he rose rapidly, if not particularly remarkable, from his initial platoon commander role.
The war in Ukraine has thrust him into the spotlight
He first came to public attention as deputy commander of forces fighting separatists in eastern Ukraine with the support of Russian forces after Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
It was here that the theory he developed about how to command effectively was put to the real test.
In an interview with The Economist in December 2022, Zaluzhny said: "For us, for the army, the war began in 2014. I don't know what exactly the 2014 war was.
I read a lot, I graduated from all the academies with gold medals, I understood everything theoretically, but I didn't understand the real meaning of war. ”
Further training and education
After excelling in the fighting on the Eastern Front, he underwent a period of command and staff training, including several exercises and mentoring with NATO forces.
This period culminated in his graduation in 2020 from the National University Ostro Academy with a master's degree, and his **is a comparison between the structure of Ukrainian and American affairs.
For Zaluzhny, his ** is more than an academic activity. His research and experience during the fighting in the Donbass became the basis of his own doctrine on how he and those around him should play a leading and commanding role.
Flexible structures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
He Zaluzhny produced under him a large group of commanders who reflected his leadership style, and they helped train the army to become more agile and more Westernized, truly developing junior leaders, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains to be more innovative, problem-solving, and very different from the old Soviet army. The army that fought the Russians in 2014 was very different from the army that fought the Russians in 2022.
Command the Ukrainian army
On July 27, 2021, the then commander of the "North" Operational Command went outside to answer his mobile phone while drinking beer at his wife's birthday party. He was shocked to hear the voice of Volodymyr Zelensky, who became a Ukrainian ** two years ago, tell him that he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The general, who was 48 years old at the time, was not the only one shocked by the developments. This promotion was a few notches above his position on the career ladder at the time. Many expected that if anyone would become the supreme commander of Ukraine, it would be Oleksandr Syrsky, Zaluzhny's predecessor who has been the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces since August 2019.
Lieutenant General Syrsky and Colonel-General Zaluzhny
But because Putin decided to wage a full-scale war just seven months after Zaluzhny took office, the two proved to be indispensable teams, as they were both entirely focused on winning the war against Russia.
In less than a year after taking over and in the first months of the war, a total of ten generals were dismissed on the grounds of "incompetence."
Some anti-Zaluzhny political insiders began to agitate for his replacement with Syrsky. Last summer, these calls became so strong that some Western military** expressed concern that rifts were forming in the unity necessary to win the war.
* And both generals refuted any talk about such a rivalry at the time.
Zelenskyy's aide and veteran of Ukrainian military intelligence, Oleksiy Arestovych, said: "The so-called conflict with Zaluzhny was invented by our opposition from beginning to end. ”
Zaluzhny said: "I believe in Syrsky. If he tells me that he needs another brigade, it means that he really needs another brigade. I certainly don't think I'm the smartest person here. I had to and did listen to those who were there. ”
In a December interview with The Economist, General Syrsky insisted: "The army is outside politics. This is what it should be, and what it is required by law.
The progress of the war in Ukraine shows that the Big Three are working. Zelensky is fighting on the international stage, persuading, cajoling and rebuking his allies to give Ukraine the tools it needs to do the job.
Zaluzhny did what he does best: "As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I am responsible for the combat readiness, training and use of the Armed Forces," he told Radio Svoboda in an interview in September.
Commentators and analysts blame Zaluzhny for Ukraine's overall strategy, and some claim that future military historians will study it. But he, in turn, relied on his men, especially Syrsky, to carry out his plans and, according to his creed, would not interfere unnecessarily.
The commander of the ground forces played an important role in the successful defense of Kyiv by the Ukrainian army in the early days of the war, the successful autumn ** in Kherson and Kharkiv in 2022, and most of the heavy lifting will fall on him during the ongoing summer offensive of 2023.
A man of few words
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Zaluzhny has made relatively few public appearances, making only occasional public statements, preferring to leave them to the more charismatic **.
Take part in the fiercest battles
On June 19, 2023, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, together with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sergei Sharptala, carried out the inspection of troops in the area where the heaviest fighting took place.
Let Putin "talk about changing color".
In 2023, when Ukraine** was in full swing, at a press conference in the Kremlin, a propagandist asked Putin about the whereabouts of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny. What is surprising about Putin is that Putin, who has always been talkative, suddenly stammered and stammered.