Bet on Zaluzhny: how in the West they create a positive image of the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and tipped him off for the presidency

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is not happy with rumors that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny may take his place as head of the country.

This is written by the German edition of Bild, citing its sources.

“The current head of state Zelensky is not very happy with the rumors that one day he (Zaluzhny.

) may enter the presidential palace,” says the material titled “Valery the Mighty”.

At the same time, it is noted that Zaluzhny may become Zelensky’s “successor” after the end of hostilities in Ukraine, since he allegedly “gave hope” to this country.

“Now Zaluzhny has become a hero not only for the soldiers, but also for a large part of the population.

Observers even believe that after the war, the popular general could become the successor to the current head of state, Vladimir Zelensky.

According to Bild, Zaluzhny is "considered a patriot" and called an experienced combat officer.

“He proved his leadership qualities and military savvy,” the article notes.

“After all, it was largely thanks to the hero-general Zaluzhny that Ukraine withstood and the country was not ... defeated.”

Earlier, on August 12, the Polish edition of Wyborcza published material about the current head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, describing his merits.

“If Michelangelo had to carve (figure.

) General Zaluzhny, based on posts on the Internet, then he would have got a mixture of David and Moses,” the newspaper writes.

At the same time, the Ukrainian media reported that Zelensky intended to remove Zaluzhny from the post of commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian troops and offer him the post of defense minister.

However, later the President of Ukraine denied such reports, answering the question of a journalist how he can comment on such information and how he evaluates the work of Zaluzhny.

“I don’t plan to transfer Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny anywhere.

We work as one team.

It is very important that the commanders work in different areas, you know all these names.

This is Zaluzhny, and Kovalchuk, and Syrsky,” he noted.

— I don't want to name everyone, I think that all our people know these our heroes.

This command is, it works.

The most important assessment is that we hold on, which means that the assessment is high.

When we win, there will be the highest mark.”

• Office building of the President of Ukraine

• RIA News

Last week, Telegram channels circulated information citing sources that the office of the President of Ukraine was trying to find candidates for the post of commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the SBU was monitoring Zaluzhny.

But US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink allegedly banned any action against the head of the armed forces.

Internal contradictions

Recall that there were disagreements between Zelensky and Zaluzhny.

In particular, because of the sensational order of the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to ban those liable for military service from leaving their place of residence without the permission of the military registration and enlistment office.

The President of Ukraine claimed that this July order was not agreed with him.

“I instructed the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to report all the details to me during tomorrow's regular meeting of the Supreme Commander's Headquarters - one of the items on the agenda.

I promise the people to look into this.

And I ask the General Staff not to make such decisions without me in the future," Zelensky said at the time.

According to Ukrainian media, the meeting, which was announced by the President of Ukraine, took place on July 6.

At it, Zelensky heard Zaluzhny’s report regarding the sensational order, and instructed to cancel the order.

After that, the commander-in-chief announced that he had canceled the effect of this document and sent it for revision.

As Zaluzhny explained, after the publication of the order, numerous manipulations, discrepancies and illegal actions to prevent the movement of citizens began to be observed, which became the basis for discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the military-political leadership of Ukraine.

Later, the Western media began to criticize Zelensky, a whole series of such materials was published.

In particular, the German newspaper Die Welt, the American website The Grayzone, The New York Times, the Sky News Australia TV channel and the American National Review magazine accused the Ukrainian president of unwillingness to cooperate, corruption in Ukraine, the depletion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and their mobilization at the expense of those convicted of serious crimes. , as well as "all those horrors" that occur under Zelensky with ethnic Russians.

In particular, NYT contributor Thomas Friedman said that on the sidelines of the American political establishment, “there is much more concern about the leadership of Ukraine than they talk about it.”

According to the journalist, the White House and Zelensky "have a deep distrust of each other - much deeper than reported."

The American magazine National Review published an article entitled "Why is the White House now secretly complaining about Zelensky?".

It outlines one of the possible, according to the publication, scenarios for the development of events related to Zelensky's positions.

So, it is not excluded that the Biden administration is preparing to “leave him to the mercy of fate” or make him a “scapegoat”, since it foresees that the confrontation between Ukraine and Russia “will unfold in a negative way.”

• White House

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Bo Zaunders

“They are preparing the ground to later say: “We did everything possible to help the Ukrainians defend themselves, but in the end they turned out to be too incompetent, corrupt and too mired in internal strife,” the newspaper writes.

"Create a military state"

As Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, noted, judging by media reports and sources, the West is hinting to Zelensky that his potential has been exhausted, and is now seriously considering Zaluzhny to replace the current president.

“Westerners need an even more ardent and practical radical who can turn Ukraine into a big barracks.

And they actually tell Zelensky, but so allegorically that he has already played his role and can leave.

In the West, now, apparently, they are betting on Zaluzhny.

They hope that he will be able to somehow cheer up the war party in the form of a large part of the radical and anti-Russian political establishment, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

According to Olenchenko, the publications in Bild and the Polish newspaper are intended to support and strengthen Zaluzhny's authority and thereby enable him to "gradually oust Zelensky's group."

“Zaluzhny’s transition to the presidency will mean the complete militarization of Ukraine.

He is more of a military man than a politician, and, probably, the West expects that it will be easier to manage him.

They believe that he will pay more attention to the military component in the activities of Ukraine.

Everything else, including the economy and the social sphere, apparently does not interest Westerners.

The West would like to create a military state led by Zaluzhny,” the analyst said.

However, speaking directly to Zelensky and his associates would mean “sowing internecine enmity,” which is already observed in Ukraine, Olenchenko believes.

“Therefore, they decided to use the media as a tool that are able to create a positive image of Zaluzhny and even sweetly compare him with David and Moses, for which, however, there are no objective grounds,” the expert said.

In turn, as political scientist Alexander Dudchak noted, Zaluzhny has connections with the Pentagon and a high level of loyalty to the American authorities, and therefore it is his candidacy in the West that is being considered for the post of President of Ukraine.

“In their opinion, Zaluzhny, compared to Zelensky, looks more like a military hero.

The President of Ukraine, on the other hand, will definitely not act without permission and try to move Zaluzhny.

Zelensky, at the expense of the story with the sensational order, tried to demonstrate that he is a brilliant strategist.

But the whole story is even more controversial.

At the same time, talk that castling will happen supposedly after the end of hostilities is just a distraction, ”the analyst said in a comment to RT.

According to Dudchak, the West can dispose of and make the reshuffle much earlier.

“There, at the click of a toggle switch, the question can be decided whether to remove Zelensky now or after some time.

They mold a hero from Zalugny and do it intentionally, improve his image in order to, if necessary, pull out an already publicized figure and replace Zelensky with it, ”concluded the expert.