Zelensky dismisses top general of Ukrainian forces

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday announced he was dismissing his top general, Valery Zaluzhny, after weeks of speculation that a conflict between the president and the military was coming to a head. 

Zelensky announced in a statement that he discussed with Zaluzhny, the commander in chief of Ukrainian forces, that the Ukrainian army required a “renewal.”

“The time for such a renewal is now,” Zelensky said in a statement, but he proposed that Zaluzhny “remain part of the team.”

The general’s dismissal comes as Ukraine approaches the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The anniversary comes at a perilous moment, with Ukrainian troops stalled on front-line positions, short of ammunition, artillery and soldiers. 

U.S. support for Ukraine is also in question because former President Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee this fall, and his supporters in Congress oppose funding for the war-torn country.

As tensions between Zelensky and Zaluzny played out in recent weeks, Ukraine’s supporters privately voiced concerns over the public displays of conflict, saying that Ukraine’s biggest strength in pushing back against Russian aggression came from the country’s solidarity and unity.

While Zaluzhny enjoyed mass popularity in Ukraine among the public and armed forces, he clashed with Zelensky over the state of the war. 

“Our battle continues and changes daily. The tasks of 2022 are different from the tasks of 2024. Therefore, everyone must change and adapt to new realities as well,” Zaluzhny posted on Telegram.

Zelensky and his top advisers have acknowledged the goals of a second counter-offensive launched in the spring of 2023 failed to meet the goals and expectations of retaking territory from Russian occupation, but they bristled at public statements by Zaluzny that described the fighting with Russia as at a stalemate. 

Zelensky’s top adviser, Mikhail Podolyak, wrote on social media that the decision to replace Zaluzny came from reviewing failures of the previous year and looking to “prevent stagnation on the frontline.” Ukraine is also focused on “new functional and high-tech solutions,” Podolyak wrote, “as well as the importance of launching the process of reforming the management principles in the army.”  

Zelensky appointed Сol. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi to lead the army. Syrskyi was the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces. Syrskyi, 58, led the defense of the capital Kyiv in the first weeks of the invasion and forged the counteroffensive in the fall of 2022 near Kharkiv. 

Updated at 1:08 p.m.