General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi attends an interfaith prayer service for peace in Ukraine at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in London, 24 February 2025. Photo: EPA. / Neil Hall
The former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, has discussed his rift with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the Associated Press (AP) that was published on Wednesday.
Zaluzhnyi, who is now the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom, told AP that the rift had begun shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and reached its apogee later the same year when the AFU was conducting a counteroffensive in the east of the country.
According to Zaluzhnyi, dozens of operatives from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) came to his Kyiv office with a search warrant in September 2022. The agents didn’t say what they were looking for, and Zaluzhnyi stopped them from going through documents and computers, according to AP.
Seeing the raid as an act of intimidation, Zaluzhnyi said he called Andriy Yermak, then Zelensky’s chief of staff. “I told Yermak that I would repel this attack, because I know how to fight.” According to AP, the SBU said no search was carried out and the situation was eventually clarified after Zaluzhnyi had spoken to Vasyl Malyuk, then the head of the SBU.
Discussing Ukraine’s summer 2023 counteroffensive, which was jointly planned with Ukraine’s NATO partners, Zaluzhnyi said its failure had been due to Zelensky and other high-ranking officials in Kyiv failing to commit the required resources, leaving Ukrainian forces dispersed over too wide an area.
Zaluzhnyi also said that he continued to watch developments at the front closely, but was no longer involved in military decision-making. He also described the “absolutely friendly” conversations he had had with Zelensky on the two occasions they’ve met since he was dismissed as commander-in-chief in February 2024.
Zaluzhnyi is considered by most analysts to be Zelensky’s chief rival for the post of president, with a recent Ipsos poll referred to by AP saying that in an election held tomorrow, 23% of Ukrainians would vote for Zaluzhnyi, while 20% would vote for Zelensky.
However, Zaluzhnyi refused to discuss his own political ambitions for fear it could sow division in Ukrainian society. “Until the war is over or martial law ends, I am not discussing this,” he told AP.
