Zelenskyy mulls firing top Ukraine military officer
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is thinking about dismissing the country’s top military officer as part of a broader leadership shakeup, a possibility that has shocked the nation fighting a war to end Russia’s invasion and also worried Ukraine’s Western allies.
Zelenskyy confirmed in an interview with Italian broadcaster RAI TV released late Sunday that he was thinking about removing Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the popular commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces. He said he was contemplating the move to ensure the country remains led by individuals who are “convinced of victory” against Russia.
“A reset, a new beginning is necessary,” Zelenskyy said. The review is “not about a single person but about the direction of the country’s leadership.”
“I’m thinking about this replacement, but you can’t say here we replaced a single person,” Zelenskyy said. “When we talk about this, I mean a replacement of a series of state leaders, not just in a single sector like the military. If we want to win, we must all push in the same direction, convinced of victory. We cannot be discouraged, let our arms fall. We must have the right positive energy.”
Zelenskyy’s comments were his first acknowledgement of Zaluzhnyi’s possible firing. The potential ouster of the general already has caused an uproar in Ukraine and delighted the Kremlin as the war approaches its second anniversary.
Zaluzhnyi is widely respected among Ukrainian service members and considered a national hero. He is credited with stalling Russia’s full-scale invasion in the early days of the war and expertly pushing back Moscow’s troops.
Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko criticized the possibility of Zaluzhnyi’s firing, saying it was because of the general’s leadership that “many Ukrainians truly trust the armed forces.”
“Today is a moment when politics might prevail over reason and country’s interests,” Klitschko said on social media. The mayor of Ukraine’s capital city has been a vocal critic of Zelenskyy. The presidency in turn has accused Klitschko’s office of inefficiencies.
It is unclear who might replace Zaluzhnyi and if his successor would command the same level of respect from Ukraine’s troops and foreign defense leaders. His firing could risk degrading morale at a critical time in the war.
According to Ukrainian and Western media reports, Zelenskyy asked Zaluzhnyi to resign last week, but the general refused. Zaluzhnyi has not commented publicly on the reports.
Tensions between him and the president have been rising since a much anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, which was launched in June with the help of an array of Western weapons, failed to produce major territory gains in Russian-occupied areas, disappointing allies.
Heightening that tension in Kyiv is the prospect of a new mobilization bill that could lead to the drafting of up to 500,000 troops. The bill, under debate in the Ukrainian parliament, is expected be politically unpopular.
Ukraine now is grappling with ammunition and personnel shortages while Russia is on the offensive, mounting relentless attacks. Four people were killed and at least one was injured in a Monday afternoon strike over the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the head of the local military administration said.
The need for a broad mobilization to beef up the number of Ukrainian troops has reportedly been one of the areas of disagreement between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi.
A rift between Zaluzhnyi and Zelenskyy first broke into the open in the fall when the general acknowledged in an interview with The Economist that the fighting with Russia had stalemated. The president strongly denied that was the case.
For his part, Zaluzhnyi has published two essays laying out his vision for how Ukraine can win the war. In his writings, he said it was critical for Ukraine to have air superiority, to extend its efficiency in countering enemy artillery, to build up reserves and to increase electronic warfare capabilities.
Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced Monday that the Netherlands was preparing six additional F-16 fighter jets to give Ukraine on top of 18 the country previously pledged.
Ukraine’s “aerial superiority is essential for countering Russian aggression,” Ollongren said in a message on X, formerly Twitter. Denmark also has promised to donate 19 F-16s to Ukraine.
Lt. Gen. Serhii Nayev, the commander of the Ukrainian military’s joint forces, said Monday that the country was set to receive missiles with a range of 186 to 310 miles along with the F-16s as part of coming defense aid packages from its allies, according to Ukrainian news agency RBK-Ukraine.
Ukraine desperately needs more Western military assistance as Russian forces maneuver from many directions along the drawn-out war’s 900-mile front line. House Republicans in the U.S. are moving forward with a military spending package that provides aid to Israel but leaves out more help for Ukraine. Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal could fuel further uncertainty among Western allies.
The Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported Monday that Zelenskyy also was considering the removal of General Staff Chief Serhii Shaptala.
Zaluzhnyi on Monday congratulated Shaptala on his birthday and posted a picture of them together on Facebook.
Monday evening, the minister for veterans’ affairs, Yulia Laputina, submitted a letter of resignation to parliament, without explanation.
Zelenskyy’s plans for a shake-up come after months of bloody, inconclusive fighting that have taken a toll on the nation’s mood, and dented his popularity ratings. A poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in December found that 62% of Ukrainians trust Zelenskyy, down from 84% earlier in the war.
Also Monday, the French government summoned Russia’s ambassador for talks over the killing of two French citizens working for nongovernmental organizations in Ukraine, and promised sustained support for the Ukrainian military in its effort to push back Russian forces.
The humanitarian workers were killed in Russian strikes on Thursday near a front line of fighting in the war in Ukraine north of the Dnipro River, in the town of Beryslav in the southern Kherson region. Three other French nationals were wounded.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to visit Kyiv in the next few weeks, denounced the attack as “cowardly and outrageous.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a statement Monday said that “people being killed is always a tragedy,” adding, however, that “specific details of this incident … are unknown to us.”
She also blamed France for fueling the conflict in Ukraine by supplying Kyiv with weapons and training its soldiers.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal pledged to “amplify” arms shipments to Ukraine, saying, ”We are talking of the simple right [for Ukrainians] to defend themselves.”
“I’m thinking about this replacement, but you can’t say here we replaced a single person. When we talk about this, I mean a replacement of a series of state leaders, not just in a single sector like the military. If we want to win, we must all push in the same direction, convinced of victory. We cannot be discouraged, let our arms fall. We must have the right positive energy.”
— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy