Is Zelenskyy planning to fire Ukraine’s popular top army commander?
Al Jazeera
Valerii Zaluzhny has been blamed for last year’s’s anticlimactic counteroffensive against Russian troops.
Kyiv, Ukraine – Rumours and allegations have swirled in recent weeks over the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s army chief.
Last week, several lawmakers and insiders claimed the taciturn and immensely popular 50-year-old four-star general was dismissed and set to lead Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to fire him in early December after Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv, the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported, citing an unnamed source.
But on Monday, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said: “This is not true.”
Even though the ministry does not hold sway over Zaluzhny, in the case of a potential firing, it would have to submit a “recommendation” for his dismissal to Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s nominal commander-in-chief.
