Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky may find a fierce political opponent in General Valerii Zaluzhny, should he decide to sack him from the top defence post, an expert believes.
Mr Zelensky has signalled he is on the verge of firing the popular head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Zaluzhny.
The military leader, who in November sparked uproar in the echelons of power in Kyiv after he said, in an interview with the Economist, the war with Russia was at a stalemate, is hugely popular among Ukrainians and could be picked as the leader of the currently weak opposition in the war-torn country, according to political analyst Aleksandar Đokić.
Referring to the general, the expert wrote in an op-ed for Euronews: “His outspoken and direct takes piqued the interest of the nearly-inert Ukrainian opposition, already significantly weakened after the 2019 elections and following February 2022, when it lost almost all of its appeal.
“Yet, the passage of time and lack of progress on the battlefield has made them once again engage in a political match against Zelensky, as can be gleaned from those from the Verkhovna Rada issuing accusatory statements aimed at him while supporting Zaluzhny to the Western press these days. All they need now is a respectable leader to stand and be counted.”
A poll carried out in December by the Kyiv Institute of Sociology suggested that Mr Zelensky’s approval rating was at around 62 percent.
The survey also showed that General Zaluzhny had the support of 88 percent of the respondents.
Moreover, the poll suggested a growing number of people are getting ready to accept stalemate as a possibility, with the percentage growing from 10 percent in May to 19 percent at the end of 2023.
Mr Zelensky came at loggerheads with General Zaluzhny following his description of the war in Ukraine as a stalemate.
At the time, the president and his allies chastised the top military commander’s words, with diplomat Ihor Zhovkva claiming the general’s comments had stirred “panic” among Ukraine’s Western allies and donors of key military aid.
Mr Zelensky said at the time: “Time has passed, people are tired, regardless of their status, and this is understandable. But this is not a stalemate, I emphasize this once again.”
Now, Mr Zelensky appears ever more likely to be preparing to dismiss General Zaluzhny after he declared during an interview with Italian broadcaster Rai News that a “reset, a new beginning is necessary”.
He added: “When we talk about this, I mean the replacement of a whole number of senior government officials, not just in a particular sector, such as the military.”
Without naming officials he is considering replacing, he added: “If we want to win, we must all push in the same direction, convinced of victory. We cannot be discouraged, let ourselves down, we must have the right positive energy.”
