The Ukrainian president has pulled back on an attempt to dismiss his top general, according to reports. Meanwhile, Moscow and Kyiv have reported civilian casualties from overnight drone strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rowed back on a threat to dismiss commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi after the top general refused to resign and potential replacements declined to take on the role, according to media reports in the United Kingdom.
According to British newspaper The Times, quoting high-ranking Ukrainian officers, Zaluzhnyi was summoned to a meeting with Zelenskyy on Monday, where he reportedly told presidential advisers that their assessment of the military situation was more positive than is really the case.
The Guardian newspaper then quoted a Ukrainian opposition lawmaker's understanding that "yesterday the president asked Zaluzhnyi to resign but he declined to do so."
Zelenskyy reportedly threatened to dismiss Zaluzhnyi by presidential decree but was forced to back down after potential successors signaled that they would refuse to assume the post. According to The Times, the United States and the United Kingdom also applied pressure on Zelenskyy not to dismiss Zaluzhnyi, as did senior Ukrainian military officials.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense denied the reports and has played down suggestions of a rift between the president and his commander-in-chief, posting on Telegram on Monday: "Dear journalists, we immediately answer everyone: No, this is not true."
General Zaluzhnyi, 50, was appointed commander-in-chief just a few months before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Having overseen the successful defense of Kyiv in the opening weeks and the recapture of some occupied territory in northern and southern Ukraine, Zaluzhnyi is a popular figure who has been rumored to have political ambitions — which he denies.
But relations between Zaluzhnyi and Zelenskyy have been considered strained since the failure of Ukraine's 2023 counter-offensive.
"There are not fundamental issues between them but Zelenskyy's office has been concerned that Zaluzhnyi has been making political not military statements," opposition politician Oleksii Goncharenko told The Guardian, blaming personality clashes and opining that dismissing Zaluzhnyi would be "a bad idea."
Source: Dw
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