The Ukrainian government had informed the White House about Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to dismiss Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Washington Post reported on 2 February with reference to two sources.
Source: European Pravda with reference to The Washington Post
Details: WP stated that the White House officials had not supported this decision but did not object either, recognizing this step as “the president’s sovereign choice”.
Quote: “The early warning also provided the White House an opportunity to urge Zelensky to reconsider the pivotal decision — even though it decided against doing so.”
The Washington Post adds with reference to people familiar with Zelenskyy’s thinking that he may postpone the decision about the dismissal of Zaluzhnyi indefinitely, though “that appeared unlikely”.
Good dismissal or bad dismissal.
I’m sure there are reasons behind this, but it definitely seems questionable from a morale and PR perspective since I’m pretty sure Zaluzhnyi is super popular (unless that was the problem…? Which I doubt tbh).
The main divergence between the two is that Zelensky is more optimistic about the war while Zaluzhnyi is more pessimistic. There’s also been some chatter that Zaluzhnyi could make a run at the presidency in the future so it could be a factor. This article covers most of it: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/31/valerii-zaluzhnyi-ukraine-general-president-volodymyr-zelenskiy-rift
This has been brewing since late last year. It seems like Zelensky feels like Zaluzhnyi has been interfering in the political side of the war, and Zaluszhnyi feels like he’s just been representing the situation as the military sees it.
Yeah this seems odd, he was a rockstar last year. Maybe the current stalemate is the cause.
If you believe Ryan Evans from War on the Rocks quoting confidential sources, a rivalry has developed between Zelensky and Zaluzhny. Apparently, Zelensky fears that Zaluzhniy may challenge him for the presidency. Also, military analysts think that some of Ukraine’s poor military decisions have come from Zelensky, not Zaluzhny, which is bound to create some tension.
Starts at about 17:45: https://open.spotify.com/episode/12e2WYSgm9smWYgSZN1UwT?si=0YBQ32UgS6W2776dXggN9Q
Bad move, politically motivated