Zelenskyy Says He’s Thinking About Dismissing Country’s Military Chief

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said that he was weighing an option to replace the country’s top military commander Gen. Valerii Zaluzhny. In an interview with the RAI TV, Zelenskyy said that he was thinking of an ouster of his military chief amid the ongoing war, he as what he described as the “part of a broader issue of setting the country’s path.” The prospect of dismissal of General Zaluzhny has shocked the US and other allies of Ukraine. But Zelenskyy insists that “a reset, a new beginning is necessary,” and that it’s “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 must ‘not sign decree on top military chief’s resignation': Ex Ukraine President

The Former President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko earlier said that the European allies expressed shock at the reports that the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy has been thinking of dismissing his Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny amid the ongoing Russia Ukraine war.  Unverified claims emerged that Zaluzhny was fired, sending "shock” among Kyiv's European allies, former President of Ukraine said on Telegram. "I'm in Brussels. Our partners are shocked by the rumours [about Zaluzhny's dismissal],” the former President of Ukraine wrote in a post.

Poroshenko said that the President of Ukraine “should neither sign nor publish a decree on the resignation of the commander in chief.” As per the reports, Ukraine’s defense chief Zaluzhny was asked to resign. President Zelenskyy signed the decree but did not publish it for the public yet. Ukraine's Defence Ministry in a post later denied such reports. Zelensky’s official spokesman Sergei Nikiforov said that the president “did not dismiss the commander-in-chief.” In September, 2023, Ukraine’s then-Defense Minister Oleksii Reznkov similarly quit from his position amid the rumours that Ukrainian president  Zelenskyy was planning to replace him. The removal of the then Ukrainian defence minister came during a shakeup during the war with Russia and  Zelesnkyy’s efforts to fight corruption within the  military.