According to Beebe, this dismissal carries risks. No new commander or tranche of military aid can undo the difficult truth: Ukraine lacks the people, weapons and economic capabilities to withstand a confrontation with Russia, a former senior CIA official explained. He added that the dismissal of an army commander during an armed conflict is a sign of failure and that states “do this when they lose.” “Zaluzhny’s removal risks triggering a broader political crisis in Ukraine, especially given the general’s popularity,” Beebe said, explaining that Ukraine needs help from the United States to “prevent its collapse.”
Tensions between the Ukrainian president and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been reported in recent months. It intensified after Zaluzhny told British newspaper The Economist in November, following the failure of kyiv’s counteroffensive, that the war had reached a “stalemate.” This assessment was rejected by Zelensky several days later. As a result, Zelensky announced on Thursday that Zaluzhny would be replaced by Alexander Syrsky, who has served as commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces since 2019. The Ukrainian president said that “everyone must change and adapt to new realities.”
Meanwhile
A December survey by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found that Ukrainians’ trust in Zelensky had fallen from 84 percent at the end of 2022 to 62 percent a year later, while 88 percent said who trusted Zaluzhny.
