As the Russian invasion of Ukraine is about to enter its third year, it appears that Volodymyr Zelensky has finally decided to replace General Valery Zlozhny, the commander-in-chief of his country's armed forces. According to the report in the "Washington Post", Ukraine officially informed the White House about the President's decision.
Will the popular general be deposed?
Zlozhny and the expected upheaval in Ukraine
Reuters
According to the report, the White House did not support or oppose the dramatic decision, only stating that it was Zelensky's authority.
The president of Ukraine has not yet issued an official order on Zlozhny's dismissal, however the update given to Washington shows the seriousness of the intention and Zlozhny's status in the US.
Presidents Biden and Zelensky in the White House, last September, photo: AFP
Last week there were rumors about Zelozhny's ouster, but Zelensky's office denied the dismissal.
According to the "Economist", the president offered the general alternative positions such as the head of the National Security Council or to be appointed ambassador, but Zeluzhny refused.
General Zaluzheny at a press conference in December, photo: AFP
Zelensky, for his part, prefers not to fire Zlozhny due to the enormous popularity of the general, who today is the only public figure in Ukraine capable of challenging the president at the ballot box - on the assumption that Zlozhny has political ambitions and on the further assumption that any elections at all are possible during the war.
General Zlozhny (left) with other senior officers of the Ukrainian army.
To his left: General Sirsky, photo: Reuters
The tension between the two is not new, and reports of it appeared as early as the summer of 2022, although they were amplified dozens of times by Russian propaganda.
Regardless of her, the tension came out last November when an interview with Zelozhny in The Economist (and a column written by him), in which he claimed that the war had entered the exhaustion phase, and an interview with Zelensky in Time, in which he conveyed a very optimistic message, were published almost simultaneously More.
In the background of the crisis - the failure of the Ukrainian counterattack in the summer, difficulties in recruitment, and perhaps above all the enormous popularity of Zelozhny: according to the polls, he is the only public figure with a popularity close to that of Zelensky.
Budanov.
Rejected the offer, photo: AFP
In any case, if Zeluzhny is indeed dismissed, it is not clear who will replace him.
Two candidates were mentioned as frontrunners: Colonel-General Oleksandr Sirsky, the commander of the Eastern Front and who commanded the liberation of Kiev province and the blitz in Kharkiv province;
and Lieutenant-General Kirill Budanov, Commander of Military Intelligence (HUR).
The problem: both Sirski and Budanov refused the offer to replace Zlozhny.
However, if no other candidate is found, it is not impossible that one of them will be forced to obey because the president is the supreme commander in time of war.
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