Zelensky sacks top army chief in major shake-up

President Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked the highly popular General Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military commander, in what amounts to the biggest leadership upheaval since Russia launched its full-scale invasion almost two years ago.

Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces since the start of Russia’s invasion, has since been confirmed as his replacement.

Rustem Umerov, Kyiv’s minister of defence, announced Zaluzhny’s dismissal on social media. “A decision was made to change the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he wrote. “War does not remain the same. War changes and requires changes.” 

Zelensky posted his own statement, saying he had met with the 50 year-old outgoing army chief and “thanked him for the two years of defending Ukraine.”

This is not a shock move. For weeks, rumours of Zaluzhny’s approaching dismissal have been circulating widely on domestic and global TV newscasts, social media and on the streets of Ukraine. 

Even so, given how respected Zaluzhny is with both the ordinary public and army, it’s a bold – not to mention risky – move from Ukraine’s leader. 

Indeed, polling from December revealed that 88 per cent of Ukrainians have trust in Zaluzhny, higher than the 62 per cent who place trust in Zelensky himself.

Zaluzhny took charge of Ukraine’s armed forces in 2021, seven months before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. He led the effort that thwarted Russia’s initial assault on Kyiv, with his decisive leadership earning him the nickname “the Iron General”. 

Ukrainians credit him too for Ukraine’s two major counteroffensive campaigns in 2022, including in Kharkiv.

Yet it is no secret that tensions have been running high between him and Zelensky during more recent bloody months of inconclusive fighting in which Ukraine’s much-anticipated summer counteroffensive has failed to yield significant breakthroughs. 

Zelensky is said to have been furious too with the military chief for inadvertently fueling war fatigue last November when he gave an interview to The Economist in which he claimed the fighting had reached a “stalemate”. 

And amid a barely shifting front line, the two have found themselves at loggerheads over the country’s mobilisation methods. 

Zaluzhny has proposed mobilising as many as half a million men to replenish the army – a figure Zelensky deems impractical given Ukraine’s scarcity of uniforms, guns and training facilities, not to mention the lack of funds to pay so many new conscripts.

Syrsky, Zaluzhny’s successor, will be taking on a heavy load. The upheaval comes at a precarious moment in the war amid intensified Russian attacks, and the dismissal of such a popular military figure risks denting Ukrainian morale at a time when it is said to be increasingly strained on the frontlines. 

What next for the outgoing army chief? 

“I proposed to General Zaluzhny to remain part of the team,” said Zelensky.

Though this may be an attempt to keep a potential political rival at bay. Some say Zaluzhny’s high standing with the Ukrainian public puts him in prime position to mount a leadership challenge against Zelensky in the country’s next presidential election.

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