MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. The decision on whether or not to dismiss Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny will be made by the United States, and not Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, as the top military commander is completely dependent on Washington, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov opined.
"[The decision] to sack Zaluzhny as Ukrainian army chief will depend on the Americans, not on Zelensky. Zaluzhny clearly stands in Zelensky’s way as he is far ahead of the latter in opinion polls and is naturally a major irritant for him. But decisions are made by the Americans, not by Zelensky," the ex-Ukrainian premier wrote on Facebook (banned in Russia due to its ownership by an officially designated extremist organization, US corporation Meta).
According to Azarov, Zaluzhny keeps in contact with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all those who actually do the military planning in Ukraine and send weapons to it. "And I doubt the Americans would want to replace that link," the former premier said. According to him, had Washington wanted to fire Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief would have lost his post long ago.
However, whoever replaces Zaluzhny will not be a gamechanger in the military conflict. "The decision-making depends on the balance of forces, recon data, delivery and logistics. <…> And neither Zelensky nor Zaluzhny controls all this," Azarov argued. "Nothing will change if they find a replacement for Zaluzhny," he added.
On Monday, former Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) lawmaker Borislav Bereza reported the dismissal of Zaluzhny from his post as commander of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Later, Ukrainian Presidential Spokesman Sergey Nikiforov refuted that report. The Washington Post reported on January 31 that Zelensky had already made the decision to sack Zelensky but that the announcement may still be postponed. Later, CNN said that Zelensky is expected to sign the corresponding decree by the end of this week.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov questioned reports about Zaluzhny as he said that it was clear to him that the Kiev regime is in disarray. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the situation around the popular commander-in-chief reflects the agony and demise of Ukrainian statehood.