Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky wants to remove Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhny from his post because of his alleged involvement in secret talks with Western officials about pursuing a ceasefire with Russia, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing sources, that the Ukrainian government had postponed the dismissal of Zaluzhny due to a leak of information about his possible resignation. The government planned to fire Zaluzhny, but on Monday evening, when information leaked, it decided to back off, the report said, adding that now, the government is slowing down the process.
According to reports, Zelensky was forced to reverse his decision as international partners, including the United States and the United Kingdom, expressed concern about Zelensky's actions.
Zelensky reportedly met with Zaluzhny to inform the general of the decision to fire him. Instead, Zelensky offered Zaluzhny the post of secretary of the country’s
security council, but Zaluzhny turned it down.
The head of Ukraine's military intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, and the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, were named candidates for the post of commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, the report added.
Amid multiple reports of Zaluzhny's looming dismissal, the Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief wrote in an opinion piece for
CNN that Ukraine cannot ramp up its military manpower without resorting to "unpopular measures", citing Russia's manpower
advantage.
The article was written before the reports emerged, CNN said.
According to The Washington Post, the scale of further mobilization is at the heart of widening differences between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Zaluzhny. The latter reportedly wants to mobilize about 500,000 additional troops, while Zelenskyy considers the figure impractical, citing lack of uniforms, weapons and training facilities for such a great number of new recruits.
He stated that the Ukrainian forces remain in a difficult position due to the "imperfections of the regulatory framework" in the country and the partial monopolization of the defense industry. These issues result in production bottlenecks, especially in ammunition, which increase Ukraine’s dependence on supplies from foreign allies.
He described the development of unmanned weapons systems as a "central driver of this war." These systems are critical for Ukraine to "avoid being drawn into a positional war, where we do not possess the advantage," he observed.
Zaluzhny stressed the need to completely redesign
battlefield operations and forget outdated and stereotypical thinking.
The Ukrainian government introduced a new mobilization bill in the Rada on January 30. Ukrainian media reported that the document obliges people liable for military service to report to military commissariats to clarify their information within 60 days. However, it does not imply a call-up of people with disabilities and clearly defines the service life of those mobilized during martial law, according to the reports.
Martial law was introduced in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The next day, Zelenskyy signed a decree on general mobilization. Under martial law, men aged from 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine.