Random sampling of reactions among the Ukrainian military.
February 9, 2024
Rumors about the dismissal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny have been swirling for the past few months. The internal conflict between the “father” of the military and the head of the country was discussed more and more often.
The reason was allegedly a disagreement in military strategic solutions. Although neither the first nor the second openly confirmed the rumors.
In January, thanks to the president’s hints and insider leaks from politicians, it became clear: Zelensky had finally made a decision. Society had time to prepare itself for such changes.
However, even despite the understanding of the inevitable, the evening of Feb. 8 was a shock for Ukrainians. Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and other platforms. Everywhere.
Everyone wrote about the dismissal of Zaluzhny and the appointment of Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky in his place.
According to Zelensky, this is the reboot that the military needs now.
We spoke with representatives of the military who are currently defending the Ukrainian front. Most of them consider such changes to be negative. But some answered, “it’s too early to draw conclusions.”
However, they all agreed on one thing: no matter who is at the helm, the military will do everything for victory, as they did during Zaluzhny’s command.
Ihor Hlushchenko, an army officer who has been a volunteer since 2014, called the situation a political, not a military, step in a comment to the Kyiv Post.
“Valery Zaluzhny led the army in a difficult time for Ukraine, earning the respect, authority and support of the people!
One person can’t change a lot, he was able to! One of the reasons for the dismissal was allegedly a failed counterattack.
What do I see? I see the failure of supplies, the misunderstanding on the part of some people of the situation on the battlefield, demanding from Zaluzhny what we cannot do, all this in the complex is not his failure.
This is a failure of management of all branches of government! Regarding Syrsky. I think it is necessary to give a person time! I don’t think that anything global will change in the management of the troops!”
Andriy Batyukov, the commander of one of the companies of the amphibious assault troops, did not share his opinion.
“I don’t know people who would support Syrsky. Or who would take Zaluzhny’s dismissal positively? There are no such people in my environment.
“Zaluzhny has one hundred percent authority in the army. And civilians too. What are the consequences of his release? I see an increase in the losses of Ukraine at the front. Because the Syrsky butcher.
“He is a person who performs tasks from above, regardless of any objective strategic or tactical realities. I don’t want to be a pessimist, but I think that all the whims of the country’s leadership will be fulfilled, regardless of how they will affect the course of the war.”
Most soldiers we spoke to were more outraged by the new assignment than saddened by the layoff. Thus, Roman Malko believes that one of the biggest problems that the leadership will face now will be that the army will not trust the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief.
“I will not talk about Syrsky’s mistakes in the past. There is even more about the fact that everyone loved Zaluzhny. But who could replace him… I don’t even know…” added Roman.
We also managed to communicate with those who had direct contact with Oleksandr Syrsky during a combat mission. However, the sergeant of the armed forces asked to keep his name confidential.
“We can recall many operations under his leadership during a full-scale invasion. This is one of the bloodiest operations.
“And we can sneak into the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Many soldiers blame Syrsky in particular for the failures of various battles, for poor planning, in particular, the result was the entire surroundings.
“I want to encourage the population. But for now, it is very difficult to comment on something.”
Oleksandr Mamai, a journalist in the past, and today a fighter of the “Offensive Guard,” believes that everything depends not on one person, but on a whole organism.
“It was noticeable that the Office of the President did not like the great popularity of Zaluzhny among Ukrainians. This was downright annoying to the Office. As for Syrsky, this is Zelensky’s favorite.
“It’s not a secret. I do not know to what extent he will be able to reveal his potential in his new position. But I would not change horses at the crossing.
“After all, this is not only the replacement of the Commander-in-Chief, but the replacement of the entire team among the army leadership. And this entails certain processes, which can affect the speed of decision-making at the operational and strategic level.
“At the same time, I am against turning Zaluzhny into an icon. After all, the system should work, not one person, even if he is brilliant and has the status of a national hero,” the army officer added.”
But in the opinion of his colleague, and today his brother-in-war, Serhii Kolesnychenko, Zaluzhny deserved to be singled out, because he did a lot for the army, in particular, for the development of the company of attack unmanned UAVs, where Serhii is currently serving.
“Personally, I am very disappointed by all this. However, speaking for Syrsky, I still have hopes that he will not fail and will continue what Zaluzhny started. The main thing is that his decisions are strategically correct, and not pander to someone from the ‘mountain’,” Kolesnychenko added.
“It always scares me when people from Russia get high positions. And even studied there. My brothers and I discussed this whole story.”
A soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the callsign “Joker” confidentially said:
“Everyone is in a stupor because no one knows what should happen next and what to expect from the new command. But in any case, our goal remains the same as it was regardless of who is the commander – our goal is to drive the enemy out of our land.”
And it was this position that united everyone with whom we talked.
Some accepted Zelensky’s decision. Some don’t.
But despite all the decrees: whether dismissal or appointment, the goal is the same.
And really, only time will tell who really went into it. And what was their strategy?
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/27833
Many of those that I know in Ukraine hate Zelensky for doing this. I think it’s a safe bet that he can forget about ever running for president again.
He may have been pressured out by “US military chiefs.” :-
“US military chiefs “blamed” General Valery Zaluzhny’s refusal to follow its advice for Ukraine’s failed counter-offensive, it has been reported.” :-
I truly have to wonder if this is correct. Do we have military leaders that would force Ukraine into such a suicide mission? If so, they should get stripped of their ranks and then fired immediately. Everyone – and even their dogs – knows that no NATO country would ever have attacked under the same circumstances that Ukraine had to.
No air superiority = no attack. That is US military doctrine since WWII.
I think it is well known that Zal did not get on with Gen. Mark Milley. I myself thought that Milley was crap.
Milley’s replacement is Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. I don’t know anything about him, other than he has a kind face and has been in situ since Oct 1st last year.
What’s he like?
I don’t know much about him, Scradge. He’s an air force general, so this might help in aviation matters. However, any military leader in the US is of little help to Ukraine, except as advisors, and even this is of limited value seeing that no current general has ever fought a war like this one. As an example, we already have learned about the deficits of NATO training for Ukrainian troops. Largely, they don’t match the realities on the ground. The various NATO generals failed to see this. And, we’ve already seen that the push for getting Ukraine to commence its offensive under such poor conditions also doesn’t speak well for the capabilities of Western generals, if this rumor is anywhere near the truth.
Concerning military aid, it’s based purely on political decisions, not military ones.
More about the reasons for the replacement at Bloomberg (via Charter97):
““At least part of the split [between Zelensky and Zaluzhny] revolves around Zelensky’s preference for a bolder military plan, which is at odds with what the more cautious Zaluzhny had planned for the months ahead,” states Bloomberg.”
https://charter97.org/en/news/2024/2/10/582991/
A bolder plan? Without more soldiers, without enough ammo, without US deliveries? What is Zelensky smoking? He must be haluzinating.
Zaluzhny had been totally right. Under current conditions, no bold moves are possible.
I agree. Right now, the Ukrainian forces must remain on the defensive and get aggressive only where the opportunity presents itself. This is the only viable tactic as I see it, considering the lessening of weapons and ammo deliveries.
Of course, this line of thought is based on the information that is available to us. What the true situation is, is known only in Ukraine’s higher leadership hierarchy.
We get occasional glimpses of the true sitation in media reports. I have read recently that a brigade commander urgently called for reinforcements since he had only 40 combat soldiers left to man the frontline instead of 200. Now, I’m not a super duper officer, just an ordinary elint specialist who did his extended tour of duty in the 1980s. but I’m well read enough in military history to conclude that under such conditilns, not even counterattacks are possible. The first and foremost priority has to be to safeguard the remaining combat strength until manpower is put back to reasonable levels again. Zelensky should react on this by pushing the mobilization bill through with all his might. There’s no time to waste and all other plans, like a reorganization of the army, have to wait. Nothing can be more important now than preventing a collapse of the front!
I often hope that many negative reports are not as negative as they sound, as I’m sure that not all positive reports are as positive as they sound. We’re often just left guessing.