2024-02-09 13:24:06
UkrainePresidentZelenskiyIt was announced on the 8th that Army Commander General Alexander Selsky was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to replaceRusso-Ukrainian WarGeneral Zaluzny, who had assumed the post of supreme commander of the army shortly before the outbreak.
“From today, a new management team will take over the leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” Zelensky posted on the X platform that he had a meeting with Zaluzny and “thanked him for defending Ukraine for two years.”
Since the end of last year, there have been increasing reports of conflicts between Zaluzny and Zelensky. There are reports that President Zelensky planned to replace the military commander as early as the end of January, but failed to implement it due to various obstacles.
On Thursday, however, Zelensky and Zaluzny issued statements on social media regarding the military leadership changes, suggesting that Ukraine’s two most senior wartime figures were closely coordinating to show unity.
Zelensky said that the Ukrainian army has reached a point where it needs to be updated. “We discussed the needed leadership renewal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. We also discussed who can be part of the renewed leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he said, adding that Zaluzny had been asked to become “part of the team.”
Zaluzny said in his statement that he had “significant and serious conversations” with the president and made a decision that changed the strategy and tactics on the battlefield. “The tasks in 2022 will be different from those in 2024. Therefore, everyone must change and adapt to the new reality. This is also to win together.”
President and Commander-in-Chief out of step
The 50-year-old Zaluzny was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army in July 2021.confrontationRussiaThe results of the army’s battles have won him the support and love of the Ukrainian people and the respect of Western allies. He was also quite popular among the military.
However, since the end of 2022, the fighting on the front line has almost stagnated, and the Ukrainian army’s summer counteroffensive failed to change this situation. Agence France-Presse reported that according to senior Ukrainian sources, Zelensky has been criticizing army commanders and their staff for months for a lack of progress on the front lines.
In November last year, Zaluzny said in an interview with the British “Economist” magazine that the war had entered a stalemate and admitted that the Ukrainian army’s counterattack had failed. But Zelensky partially refuted his view, saying the front line was not in stalemate. The conflict between the two became more and more obvious.
In Ukraine, Zaluzny’s popularity even exceeds that of the president. A December 2023 poll showed that 88% to 94% of Ukrainians trust Zaluzny, and three-quarters expressed opposition to his resignation. Support for Zelensky ranges from 62% to 77%. Some analysts believe that Zaluzny is therefore regarded as a potential political opponent by Zelensky.
Selsky, 59, has served as Army Commander-in-Chief.When Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, he commandedKyivDefensive battle, and commanded the counterattack in the autumn of 2022, liberating most of the Kharkov region in the northeast. From 2022 to 2023, Selsky also directed the 10-month tug-of-war between the Ukrainian army and the Russian army in Bakhmut. Bachmut finally declared its fall in May 2023. It is still controversial whether the high cost of combat power paid by the Ukrainian army there is worth it.
USAThe government has said it will cooperate effectively with Selsky. Celeste Wallander, the Pentagon’s assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said Selsky was an “experienced and successful commander.”
(Reuters, AFP, etc.)
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