Zelenskyy replaces Ukraine’s top general Zaluzhny
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy removed on Thursday (8 February) Ukraine’s top commander Valery Zaluzhny, saying that the army needed “updated leadership”, in a move that ended months of tensions between the two top officials.
“I thanked him for two years of defense of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on social media, adding: “We also discussed who could be in the renewed leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” However, no successor was immediately named.
Zelenskyy “thanked” Zaluzhny for “two years of protecting Ukraine” and added that in their meeting on Thursday, they discussed “updated leadership” for Ukraine’s military and added that he proposed that Zaluzhny “remain part of the team.”
“The time for such an update is now,” Zelenskyy wrote.
In posts on both Zelenskyy’s and Zaluzhny’s social media accounts, the two men posed shaking hands and smiling.
“A decision was made about the need to change approaches and strategy,” Zaluzhny wrote.
A leading contender for the job is likely to be the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov.
Budanov’s appointment would signal a potential shift in military strategy toward increased asymmetrical tactics such as drone strikes deep into Russianterritory, which he has spearheaded in his current capacity.
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