Zelenskyy, Zaluzhnyi, and Umierov met on Bankova Street on Monday to discuss resignation of Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief. Yermak was not present - BBC
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy urgently summoned the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Monday, 29 January. The meeting was also attended by Defence Minister Rustem Umierov.
Censor.NET reports, citing BBC News Ukraine sources.
"This meeting promised to be atypical. Despite the fact that Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi regularly meet at meetings of the Commander-in-Chief's staff, they have not spoken for quite some time without the presence of the head of the Presidential Office. On this day, Andriy Yermak was in Uzhhorod for talks with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto," the publication says.
According to sources, the meeting was held in a calm tone. The President said that he had decided to dismiss the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and that a decree to this effect would be signed in the near future.
He offered Zaluzhnyi a choice of taking the post of ambassador to one of the European countries (Ukrainian ambassadors to the UK, Norway and the Czech Republic have not yet been appointed) or the post of NSDC secretary. Zaluzhnyi, according to the newspaper, refused these options.
In the evening, information about Zaluzhnyi's dismissal was spread, on the one hand, by anonymous telegram channels associated with the OP, and, on the other hand, by "people and channels that were difficult to suspect of sympathy for Zelenskyy".
Why doesn't Zelenskyy like Zaluzhnyy?
The newspaper writes that the tense relationship between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyy has been known for a long time. The troubles between them began in April 2022, as soon as Russian troops withdrew from Kyiv.
"According to the BBC, although General Zaluzhnyi is not officially involved in the criminal case on the improper organisation of the defence of southern Ukraine, he had a conversation with SBI investigators on this issue," the publication says.
According to some commentators, the reason for the misunderstanding is the Bankova's jealousy of Zaluzhnyi's support, whom sociologists call Zelenskyy's only real rival in a hypothetical presidential election.
According to others, the fact is that Zaluzhnyi and Zelenskyy have different views on the phase of the war and how it should develop further.
"In any case, according to the BBC, in recent months, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been close to dismissing Valerii Zaluzhnyy more than once. ... What exactly prompted the president to inform the chief of staff of his imminent resignation personally on 29 January is not known for certain," the article says.
According to one of the publication's interlocutors, the president justified the need for Zaluzhnyi's resignation on Monday by saying that he wanted to reboot the entire system of Ukraine's national security and defence agencies. However, nothing is known about personnel changes in other security, military and law enforcement agencies.
Who will replace Zaluzhnyi?
The decree to dismiss Zaluzhnyi, according to BBC sources, was delayed either by the reaction of Ukraine's Western partners or by problems with the candidacy of his successor.
The Ukrainian media name the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, and the commander of the Land Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, as the main contenders for this position.
According to BBC sources, both of them refused from this appointment. After all, any new commander-in-chief will be automatically compared to the old, mega-popular Valerii Zaluzhnyi. And there are no prerequisites for the new commander-in-chief to show impressive results on the battlefield.
"In any case, Ukraine does not have the ability to achieve victory over the Russian army immediately, Ukraine must intensify mobilisation in any case. These things do not depend on who will be the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces," the BBC writes.
In such circumstances, the new chief of staff may be considered a "tame general of Bankova". And this will not make his life and work easier, nor will it improve the attitude of the Ukrainian military to him.
At the same time, according to a BBC source in one of Ukraine's intelligence services, it is impossible to imagine that any general would refuse to comply with the president's decision to appoint him commander-in-chief.
"There is a war in Ukraine. The president is the supreme commander-in-chief. His decisions must be implemented," the newspaper quoted the source as saying.
What's next?
According to BBC sources in the defence sector, Zaluzhnyi's resignation is only a matter of time.
The differences between him and Zelenskyy have reached a critical point. It is no longer just about views on the war, but also about purely personal differences.
A number of questions remain open.
Will the release of Zaluzhnyi be properly communicated to Ukraine's Western partners?
How will Ukrainian society perceive the resignation of the popular commander-in-chief? According to the KIIS poll, Zaluzhnyi's replacement is supported by 2% of Ukrainians and not supported by 72%.
"The resignation of Zaluzhnyi is not just about replacing one general with another: it is about the Ukrainian government breaking an informal agreement with society that the political leadership does not teach the military how to fight, and the military does not interfere in political affairs," the BBC writes.
The publication notes that Ukrainians are unlikely to take to the streets if Zaluzhnyi resigns, and the military is unlikely to turn its bayonets towards Kyiv. However, this decision will not have a good effect on the general mood of Ukrainian society and its support for the government in general - and this factor should not be discounted in wartime.
Zaluzhnyi's resignation
Earlier, sources reported that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had signed a decree dismissing the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi. However, later, President Zelensky's spokesman, Serhiy Nikiforov, told UP that Valerii Zaluzhnyi had not been dismissed.
