Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valeriy Zaluzhny, spoke publicly for the first time about the deep conflict with President Volodymyr Zelensky, which arose after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. In an interview with the Associated Press, the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that there were serious differences between him and the head of state regarding the strategy of waging war.
According to Zaluzhny, tensions between him and the president emerged in the first months of the invasion. The disputes concerned how exactly the country's defense should be organized and offensive operations should be carried out. He called the culmination of the confrontation an incident in the fall of 2022, when SBU officers arrived at his Kyiv office.
Zaluzhny claims that this was an attempt to pressure and intimidate at a time when national unity was critically important. According to him, during the events, he called the then head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, and said that he was ready to involve the military to protect the command center in downtown Kyiv.
At the same time, the SBU denied the fact of a search of Zaluzhny's office, noting that the relevant address appeared in criminal proceedings not related to him personally. The Office of the President refrained from commenting. There is currently no independent confirmation of Zaluzhny's version.
Controversy over counterattack
Separately, the former commander-in-chief criticized the approach to the 2023 counteroffensive. According to him, the initial plan involved concentrating forces for a breakthrough in the south with access to the Sea of Azov, but resources were dispersed, which weakened the strike potential. As a result, the operation did not achieve its strategic goals.
Despite military successes in 2022 and a high level of trust in society, in February 2024, Zelensky dismissed Zaluzhny from the post of commander-in-chief and later appointed him ambassador to London. Political analysts at the time viewed this as an attempt to reduce his influence domestically.
Opinion polls show that in a hypothetical presidential election, Zaluzhny would have a slightly higher approval rating than the incumbent. At the same time, he himself says that he does not discuss political ambitions so as not to undermine unity during the war.
" While the war is ongoing or martial law is in effect, I do not engage in any political activity ," the diplomat emphasized.
The resonance around the "sharp" version of the interview
After the material was released, allegations appeared in the information space that the initial version of the interview allegedly contained even harsher statements. In particular, it was about information that in 2022, SBU officers were allegedly planning the physical elimination of Zaluzhny.
However, the final version of the Associated Press article does not contain such statements. According to sources, after negotiations, the agency's editorial board and Zaluzhny himself decided not to include these statements in the publication.
At the same time, this information began to spread actively in certain blogging circles connected to the political orbit of the former commander-in-chief. Some publications presented it as an allegedly deleted fragment of the interview.
In particular, journalist Yanina Sokolova stated that she had copies of court documents that related to a search warrant at the address where the Zaluzhny command post was located.
According to her, interlocutors from the general's entourage viewed those events not only as a search, but as a possible attempt at physical elimination. At the same time, law enforcement agencies did not provide any official confirmation of the version of the preparation of the assassination attempt, and the SBU publicly denied conducting any investigative actions directly in Zaluzhny's office.
Given these events, it can be assumed that Zaluzhny's election campaign has already begun.
