Zelensky's rival? / The general, in front of the Ukrainian president

2024-02-05 14:10:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The news took over the media this week: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered the resignation of the popular Ukrainian army general and commander of the Armed Forces, Valery Zalushny. The latter seems to have refused. There is no information nor an official decree on the reasons for a resignation. Ukrainian media were based on anonymous sources. The president's office later announced that Zalushnij has not been relieved of his duties. A wave of solidarity with General Zalushnij was noticed on social networks. The news of the possible resignation of Ukraine's most important general fighting against the Russian invasion was a double sensation. The news itself as such and further the unclear and contradictory communication policy of the head of state. But the news itself didn't come as much of a surprise.

Zelensky's rival? / The general, in front of the Ukrainian president

Breakdown in the relationship between Zelensky and Zalushnij

Speculations about a rift in the relationship between Zelensky and Zalushnyi appeared in the first months of the Russian occupation, in the spring of 2022. In the summer of the same year, they intensified. According to the probability, the reason was the political jealousy of the president or his circle towards the popular general, but there is no exact data. At that time, Zelensky removed the suspicions, among other things, by publishing joint photos with Zalushnij. The voices died down for a while after that.

But in November 2023, the differences in attitude between Zelensky and Zalushnij suddenly became public. Then in an interview and in an article for "Economist" magazine, Zalushnij announced the transition to trench warfare, not offensive, and admitted that Ukraine's counteroffensive did not succeed. Zelensky partially contradicted it, and said that there is no situation at the front. The conflict appeared more and more openly. Bypassing the commander of the armed forces, the president replaced senior army officers. Zaliushnij criticized the president's decisions to replace all military commissars, to fight corruption in military mobilization. He also distanced himself from the president's announcement about the alleged mobilization requested by the army of half a million soldiers. At the 2023 annual conference, the president said he "has a working relationship" with Zalushnij and hinted that he did not like the army commander's statements.

It is not clear what was the reason that Zelensky offered his resignation to Zalushnij, but there have been signs of this for months. So at the end of November, the deputy of the president's party "Servant of the people", in the parliament, Marjana Besuhla openly asked for Zalushnij's resignation and accused him of not having a war plan for 2024. Among the developments that attracted attention in recent days, where there were also reports suggesting Zalushnij's resignation, there was also a new law on mobilization, the draft of which caused debate in the Ukrainian public opinion and was reworked. Further news that a Russian military aircraft, Typ II-71, crashed in the Russian region of Belgorod. Russia claims that there were dozens of Ukrainian prisoners there, who were ready for a prisoner exchange, and that it was Ukraine that shot down the plane. President Zelensky has demanded an international investigation into the disaster.

Zelensky's rival? / The general, in front of the Ukrainian president

The general enjoys immense confidence

50-year-old Valerij Zalushnij comes from a military family. He was born in Svjahel in the Shytomyr region and is an atypical figure. Zalushnij is the first commander of the armed forces of Ukraine who did not study at a Soviet military academy, but studied in Ukraine, among them at the Ground Forces Institute in Odesa. After 2014, he rose to the post of deputy commander of the group in Donbas, and in 2021 he was called by Zelensky to be elected head of the armed forces.

After the Russian invasion, Zalushnij quickly became a symbol of Ukraine's successful defensive war against Russian troops. Confidence in Zalushnij is higher than in Zelensky, who seems to have passed the zenith of his popularity. In polls published in December 2023, 88% to 94% of Ukrainians trust Zalushnij. Three quarters were then against his resignation. Support for Zelensky fluctuates between 62 and 77%.

Zelensky's rival? / The general, in front of the Ukrainian president

Pictures of Zalushnij are painted on the walls, songs are written about, and the general's portrait is on T-shirts. Zalushnij himself is not a person who wants to be very public. He rarely gives interviews, mainly to Western media. Before the Russian invasion, he was active on social media where he published photos of his family, which is not typical for a general. When his Instagram profile was allegedly hacked by the Russians, Zalushnij reacted strongly and wrote about the Russian military. "We will kill them all."

Will Zalushnij become president?

Western partners appreciate his military talent. Zalushnij's portrait also appeared in the American magazine "Time". But not only tones of thanks are heard from Washington. When the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley proposed in the fall of 2022 that Ukraine should consider negotiations with Russia, Zalushnij publicly responded that the Ukrainian military will not approve of this.

Zelensky's rival? / The general, in front of the Ukrainian president

In the article for "Economist", Zalushnij reflected with self-criticism on mistakes, a rare case for the Ukrainian leadership. He said he was surprised that Russia's heavy losses had not stopped the war. In Ukraine, Zalushnij himself is a cult, but he has also had failures. Investigations into Russia's rapid invasion of southern Ukraine have not been concluded. How did it happen that the Ukrainian army, in February 2022 in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, did not withstand the Ukrainian offensive, although it was expected there? According to the media, the investigators have also spoken with Zalushnij.

Does Zalushnij want to become president? There are reports that speak of his secret ambitions for the post of president, and that they are the main reason for the differences between Zalushny and President Zelensky, who sees the military commander as a potential political rival. But publicly Zalushnij has never talked about political ambitions. If this were to change one day, he can hope for a broad support of Ukrainian society./ DW