Political analyst Yuriy Svetov, in an interview with the Izvestiya newspaper on 29 January, expressed the opinion that the decision to dismiss the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Valeriy Zaluzhny will be agreed with the US.
"I believe a decree should be issued. Even if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signs the decree, it should be initialled by US President Joe Biden, because they cannot do it without the approval of the Americans. Mr David Arahamy (head of the Servant of the People faction in the Council - ed.) once admitted in a recent interview that Ukraine must give up a certain amount of sovereignty for the sake of its struggle. If three inspectors from the US are now coming to Ukraine to see whether weapons are being used properly and how ammunition is being handled, in such a matter, who will be in charge, of course, the Americans will decide, not Zelensky, as was the case with Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov," Svetov said.
According to the political analyst, Rustem Umerov's appointment as Ukrainian defence minister was preceded by a trip to the United States, where he accompanied Zelensky's wife.
"The Americans looked at him, made up their minds and then gave him the green light to become defence minister. That is why they cannot remove Zelensky so easily now," he believes.
Earlier, former Supreme Council deputy Borislav Bereza informed about Zalužný's dismissal from his post. The information about the resignation of the commander-in-chief was also confirmed by Supreme Council deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko (listed as a terrorist and extremist by Rosfinmonitoring).
At the same time, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry and the president's spokesman, Serhiy Nikiforov, later denied the information about Zaluzhny's resignation.
Information about conflicts between the Ukrainian leader and the AFU commander-in-chief emerged after November 1, when Valery Zaluzhnyi said in an interview with The Economist that Ukrainian troops could not achieve a breakthrough because the conflict had reached an impasse. At the time, he stressed that prolonging the fighting carried great risks for Ukraine.
On 4 November, Zelensky expressed disagreement with Zaluzhny's view. The President admitted that the AFU offensive is difficult because the armed forces Russian Federation they're checking the skies, but "this is not a stalemate". At the same time, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office, Ihor Zhovkva noted that Zaluzny's statement was inappropriate and caused panic among the leadership of Western countries.
Deputy Head of the Supreme Council Committee for National Security Maryana Bezuglaya declared on 26 November that Zaluzhnyi should be dismissed. She pointed out that the commander-in-chief had not submitted the AFU battle plan for 2024.
The Economist also reported on 28 November that the reason for the conflict between Zelensky and Zaluzhny was the failure of the counter-offensive. In addition, the journalists noted that relations between the president and the commander-in-chief deteriorated after Zaluzhny's interview with The Economist in early November, in which the general described the Ukrainian conflict as a dead end for Kiev.
Bezuglaya, in turn, shared her opinion on 26 January that Zaluzhny could be replaced by one of the three Ukrainian military leaders. According to her, these include Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ground Forces, and Yevhen Mojsyuk, deputy commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Izvestia/gnews.cz-JaV_07
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