Ukraine's top general Zaluzhnyi at center of rumors after alleged removal request
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Rumors about the possible dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have swirling in Ukraine since the evening of Jan. 29.
Despite official denials of his resignation, Ukrainian media report that Volodymyr Zelenskyy did meet with Zaluzhnyi and allegedly asked the general to step down.
NV has is closely following the situation
Rumors of Zaluzhnyi's "dismissal": what is known and unknown as of the morning of Jan. 30
Official denials followed after a number of Ukrainian Telegram channels and other sources spread rumors on the evening of Jan. 29 about the alleged dismissal of Zaluzhnyi from the post of Commander-in-Chief.
President Zelenskyy did not comment on the rumors of a meeting with Zaluzhnyi or his intention to dismiss him. The President did not mention the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief in his evening address on Jan. 29.
However, additional information from NV's sources and other media suggests that the rumors and reports about Valerii Zaluzhnyi's possible resignation had grounds.
Sourses for the news outlet ZN.ua reported that a personal meeting between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi did take place on Jan. 29, during which the President of Ukraine proposed that the general to resign from the post of head of the Armed Forces.
For his part, "Zaluzhnyi replied that it was the right of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief [Zelenskyy] to decide who he would work with," ZN.ua writes, claiming that Zaluzhnyi had not yet filed a resignation letter "and does not intend to do so."
No other significant personnel offers were made to Zaluzhnyi at the meeting in the President’s Office – "only the status of an assistant or advisor was discussed."
An NV source in the Verkhovna Rada's National Security Committee said that Zelenskyy’s office was “planning to change the entire line of leaders of the security and defense forces." Meanwhile, NV's sources in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) unofficially reported that they had no information about the alleged reappointment of the head of the military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov after rumors suggested that Budanov could replace Zaluzhnyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
The same sources in HUR believe that the leaks around Zaluzhnyi "come from… the General Staff [of the Armed Forces of Ukraine]."
All of these reports remain unconfirmed officially as of the morning of Jan. 30. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, has not yet commented on the situation.
Latest developments:
11:06 a.m. "Russia is trying to create chaos". How Ukrainians and Russians reacted to rumors of Zaluzhnyi's dismissal - political expert Zahorodniy
Political expert Taras Zahorodniy spoke on Radio NV about the reaction of Russian propagandists and Ukrainian society to the rumors surrounding the possible resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
"It's a purely Ukrainian trait to perceive many events emotionally," he said.
“This is a fact. And of course, the situation in the country is projected onto these events, because Mr. Zaluzhnyi is responsible for the security of the state in people's minds. And security is a basic human need. And that's why there was such a reaction in this case.”
09:35 a.m. "If it's a dump, it's from the top". Demoralization of the army may reach a critical point due to rumors of Zaluzhnyi's resignation - Zhyrokhov
Military expert Mykhailo Zhyrokhov commented on Radio NV on the information surge of rumors about the resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, which did not materialize.
"It's very difficult to say anything specifically, but I will say one thing: it was not a dump from below," Zhyrokhov said.
“This is not a psyop – Russian or ours. It was a dump (if it was a dump) from the very top. And even people who have certain positions told me personally that this information has a certain basis.”
He added that "this has a very, very negative impact on the army, on the [morale] of the army." "And in time of war, doing such things is at least very wrong and on the verge as the morale of the army could reach a critical low," said the expert.
08:30 a.m. In response to the wave of rumors surrounding him, after midnight on Jan. 30, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi posted a photo with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Shaptala without adding any captions.
A similar photo of Zaluzhnyi and Shaptala was earlier posted by Ukrainian Armed Forces officer Anatoliy Shtefan (Stirlitz).
07:50 a.m. Information chaos surrounding Zaluzhnyi has played into the hands of Russian propaganda - ISW
Russian propaganda has taken advantage of the chaos in Ukraine around the rumors of Valerii Zaluzhnyi's alleged resignation as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to a new report by the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War.
Russian sources and state media "also picked up claims of Zaluzhnyi's dismissal or resignation," the ISW writes. They note that Russian sources are "seizing" on such rumors about Zaluzhnyi's dismissal "to further several information operations about domestic Ukrainian affairs they have been conducting for some time," the Institute’s analysts say.
One of the faces of Russian propaganda, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, said in a post that, regardless of whether the reports about Zaluzhnyi's removal are true, [information] chaos on this topic is useful for Russia.
"Whether Zaluzhnyi was removed or not, whether Budanov will come instead or Mudanov – a mess on the farm is useful for us. Besides, it's beautiful," Simonyan wrote on Telegram.
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