Reasons for the rift between Ukraine's civilian and military leadership.
(Baonghean.vn) - The Ukrainian government wants the military to find ways Kyiv can defeat Russia but is not providing data on the resources they have to achieve that goal, revealed Valery Zaluzhny, an advisor to former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief.
In an interview with The New York Times published on February 24, General Viktor Nazarov revealed one of the reasons for the rift between the country's military and civilian leadership last year. He noted that military officials struggled with demands from the Kiev government, which wanted the military to outline “a roadmap to victory without telling them the number of troops, ammunition, and reserves they needed to implement any plan.” The general lamented that this was one of the factors the civilian leadership “did not understand or did not want to understand” when it demanded that the military provide strategic plans without any strategic reserves.
In an interview with CNN earlier this month, General Zaluzhny criticized the “imperfections of the legal framework,” as well as the partial monopoly of the defense industry, which he argued has led to production bottlenecks and exacerbated dependence on foreign arms shipments.
In a November article for The Economist, the former top Ukrainian commander also argued that the conflict is currently in a “stalemate,” with both sides possessing the technological capability to know what the other is doing, making any progress on the battlefield problematic.
President Zelensky dismissed Zaluzhny, who oversaw Ukraine's failed counteroffensive last year, as well as several other top commanders earlier this month. The Ukrainian president described the decision as a “reboot,” noting that “some things haven’t changed in recent times.” However, some media outlets reported that Zelensky wanted to remove Zaluzhny as a potential political rival who enjoyed popular support among the soldiers. Zaluzhny was replaced by General Aleksandr Syrsky, whom Politico described as a “butcher” unpopular with the military, who were dissatisfied with his willingness to throw them into “unproductive attacks.”
Even before Ukraine's chaotic retreat from the strategic city of Avdeevka in Donbass, Syrsky had acknowledged that Kyiv was in a "difficult" frontline situation. He also stated that Ukraine had now "shifted" from offensive to strategic defensive action.
However, commenting on the high-level leadership reshuffle, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Moscow does not expect this to have a significant impact on the battlefield.
