MOSCOW, February 9 Resignation of Valery Zaluzhny from the post of commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the appointment of Alexander Syrsky instead of him occurred because Vladimir Zelensky needs an obedient executor of his political will, who will not take into account human losses. This opinion was expressed by Oleg Voloshin, a member of the “Other Ukraine” movement, a former member of the Ukrainian parliament.
On February 8, Zelensky signed a decree appointing Syrsky as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine instead of Zaluzhny. Previously, Syrsky commanded the ground forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Leading Western media emphasize that Syrsky is considered a close supporter of Zelensky, but the troops do not like him for his heavy losses, calling him “The Butcher” and “General 200.”
Obedient executor “It is believed that Syrsky quite obediently carries out Zelensky’s political will, and the scale of Zelensky’s interference in military processes is much higher than many in Russia think,” Voloshin said in an interview with the agency.
According to him, Zelensky is actively involved in the decision-making process on military operations due to his personal dependence on the West, whose support is a key factor in maintaining the presidency. “Zelensky considered and continues to consider it possible to pay for his preservation in power with the lives of Ukrainian soldiers… He repeatedly intervened in the course of military operations in order to ensure certain things that were symbolically important to himself: keeping Bakhmut longer than military logic suggested, attempts to recapture him,” Voloshin said.
The expert emphasized that Syrsky will obediently carry out Zelensky’s course, which could lead to a rapid depletion of human resources in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “That’s why Syrsky is called a butcher — for him, human losses are secondary compared to the political tasks that he solves,” Voloshin noted.
A new wave of struggle in Kiev According to him, in the current history, Syrsky’s personality is not as important as the circumstances that led to Zaluzhny’s resignation. “Syrsky appeared only because Zelensky needed to remove Zaluzhny. This is key. We see a full return of the internal political struggle in Kyiv,” the expert believes.
He added that virtually all the disagreements that existed in the ruling circles of Ukraine until recently were “a small smoke” in comparison with the “fires” that arose in the Ukrainian political system earlier. “The split is occurring both along the line “Zelensky is part of the military command” and along the line “Zelensky is the political elite”… The internal ruler of Ukraine is the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, he is the real leader of the internal political direction,” Voloshin said.
The expert clarified that the discord is manifested in failures at the front, in the failures of Ukraine’s economic policy, and the refusal of some Western allies to support Zelensky personally. “Until recently, these conflicts were stopped by pressure from the West, it limited them. The West tried to bring everyone together, since the common struggle with Russia is more important for the West than internal Ukrainian squabbles,” Voloshin concluded.