Former army commander speaks out about disagreements with Zelensky
Valery Zaluzhny, former commander of the Ukrainian army and current ambassador to Britain, spoke publicly for the first time about tensions between him and President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the AP. According to him, the disagreements arose shortly after the Russian invasion in February 2022 and concerned the country's defense strategy.
He claims that the tension culminated in a raid on his office, allegedly carried out by the domestic intelligence service SBU. The SBU denied that it was a search of his premises and stated that the address was related to another investigation. According to his own words, the former chief called the head of the presidential office with a warning that he would deploy soldiers to protect his command center.
Zaluzhny also criticized the course of the counteroffensive in 2023. According to him, the plan he developed with the help of NATO partners failed because Zelensky and other officials did not want to allocate the necessary resources. While he wanted to focus on one axis, Zelensky ordered a push across most of the front line. Two Western defense officials confirmed his version.
Since his dismissal, he says he has not been involved in military decision-making. However, he is following Ukraine's war strategy, which he believes depends on an unrealistic number of troops. He also criticized its organization in terms of how it deploys new technologies on the battlefield.
However, since his dismissal two years ago, he says he has only had two "friendly" meetings with Zelensky.
An Ipsos poll showed that in a hypothetical election, he would receive 23 percent of the vote, compared to 20 percent for Zelensky. Zalužnyj rejects political ambitions during the war and said he also turned down an offer from an American consultant.
According to the portal's sources, this is Paul Manafort, who led Donald Trump's campaign ten years ago and was later convicted of lobbying for former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
(max)