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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is preparing to replace his top general. This would be the biggest shakeup of Ukraine's military command since Russia's full-scale invasion began two years ago.
Zelensky on Monday offered Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhny a new role, but the general declined, four people familiar with the discussions said.
Two of them said Zelensky had made it clear to Zaluzhny that regardless of whether he accepted the role, he would be removed from his current position.
The four people noted that Zelensky has not yet fired Zaluzhny and may not do so for some time after reports of the general's removal surfaced in Ukrainian media.
On Monday, Zelensky's spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov and the Defense Ministry denied reports of Zaluzhny's dismissal.
“Dear journalists, we answer everyone immediately: No, that’s not true,” the ministry wrote on its Telegram channel, without providing any additional context. The president's office declined further comment Tuesday.
The president's offer to give Zaluzhny a new role follows months of speculation about his fate, fueled by repeated reports of tensions between the two men.
Their strained relationship came to light in November last year after Ukraine's much-touted counteroffensive failed to achieve its ambitious goals of retaking lost territory and cutting off Russia's land bridge to Crimea. Zaluzhny then said the war had reached a “stalemate.” The president's office criticized him for using the term.
Zaluzhny's replacement would also cause turmoil among Ukraine's military and civil society base, where the general enjoys strong support.
“This will have a very, very negative impact on them [morale] the army,” Ukrainian military historian Mykhailo Zhyrokhov told Radio NV in Kiev, adding, however, the caveat that he considered the rumors “fakes.”
Zaluzhny's replacement could also unsettle Ukraine's Western partners, including military officials who have worked closely with the general over the past two years in crafting battlefield strategies. And it would come at a critical moment in the war as Kiev waits to see whether crucial billions of dollars in military and financial support from the US and EU will materialize.
Zaluzhny has not commented on reports of his dismissal, although he posted an undated selfie on Facebook on Monday with his chief of staff Serhiy Shaptala, both wearing Ukrainian army sweatshirts. The post was shared more than 2,000 times and received hundreds of supportive comments within minutes of being published.
On Monday evening, reports of Saluzhny's impending ouster began circulating in local media, on anonymous local Telegram channels and in public comments from politicians closely linked to former President Petro Poroshenko, whom Zelensky defeated in the 2019 election.
But four people familiar with the situation told the Financial Times that the decision was made in Zelensky's office to dismiss Zaluzhny from his post.
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What remains to be clarified, according to all four people familiar with the matter, is the timing of Zaluzhny's departure, whether he will accept a new role and who would replace him as commander in chief.
Possible candidates for the position include Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, and Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the country's military intelligence. Both men are close to Zelensky.
The Ukrainian news channel “Mirror of the Week” also reported on this series of events, citing sources in Zelensky’s office. Several other media outlets cited sources as saying Zaluzhny had been fired or would soon be fired.
The 50-year-old Zaluzhny, a four-star military man dubbed the “Iron General” by his admirers, was appointed commander-in-chief by Zelensky in July 2021 and has overseen the Ukrainian military's operations since Russia began its Great Invasion in February 2022.
He is credited with orchestrating several of Ukraine's military successes, including the defense of Kiev in the early days of the Russian invasion and the successful counteroffensives in the eastern Kharkiv region and the southern regional capital Kherson in the fall of 2022.
In a Ukrainian poll released in December, 88 percent of Ukrainians said they trusted Saluzhny, compared to 62 percent who said they trusted Zelensky. Zelensky, who was seen as a potential political rival, reportedly tried to keep Zaluzhny out of the public eye and bypassed him at key moments in the war by conveying orders to the general's subordinates.