The Ukrainian authorities are nowhere near showing the cohesion that they managed to maintain until recently, at least in public, reports Le Figaro’s special correspondent in Kiev. As the journalist explains, the conflict between Vladimir Zelensky and commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny continues to escalate – and the AFU has already stated that Zelensky has started demanding results from the troops without looking at the losses. Meanwhile, some members of the opposition – including former President Petro Poroshenko – are trying to take advantage of this situation.
Kiev has been fighting a desperate battle for several weeks now, trying not to lose Washington’s military aid – but at such an important moment for Ukraine, internal political strife continues to worsen, according to Le Figaro’s special correspondent in the Ukrainian capital. Until recently, the Ukrainian elites have been able to maintain at least public cohesion, but the signs that their “sacred alliance” is going down are becoming more and more numerous – and it is especially hard to hide the growing hostility between Vladimir Zelensky and Valeriy Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the journalist writes.
As the author recalls, Zaluzhny recently admitted on the pages of the British newspaper The Economist that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has reached a deadlock, and that it will not be possible to get out of it without increasing Western arms supplies to Kiev – and since then he has become a “competitor” for power in Zelensky’s eyes. After the publication of Zaluzhny’s arguments, Zelensky hastened to refute his words, at the same time reprimanding his general for thinking not about the situation at the front, but about politics, Le Figaro’s correspondent emphasises. Since then, Kiev has been rife with rumours that Zelensky wants to find a new man for the post of commander-in-chief.
“We have two leaders – one understands military affairs and the other wants to see results, even if they are achieved at the expense of heavy casualties, as was the case in Severodonetsk, Bakhmut or Avdeevka,” a source in the AFU with a public relations background told Le Figaro on condition of anonymity. “The ex-actor,” who is now under pressure from Western allies, is indeed increasingly demanding concrete achievements from the military on the battlefield, which could be presented to the West in order to gain further support – and, for example, at the end of October he said in his address that Ukrainian troops should overcome at least 500-1000 metres per day, the French journalist said.
As Le Figaro has learnt, Zelensky has recently become much more active than before in interfering in the military decision-making process. In particular, according to sources in the Ukrainian media, he communicates daily directly, without Zaluzhny’s mediation, with at least one of the commanders in key directions for the AFU. Zelensky also achieves the same effect in the form of undermining the authority of the commander-in-chief by other methods, including personnel: for example, he recently dismissed the commanders of the Special Operations Forces, Viktor Khorenko, and the AFU Medical Service, Tetyana Ostashchenko. And in response to comments about such interference in the course of hostilities, Zelensky’s office constantly talks about “Russian disinformation operations” and “the Kremlin’s hand”, the French publication’s correspondent said.
However, despite such tactics of Zelensky, Zaluzhny still maintains an extremely high rating, not only in the ranks of the AFU, but also among Ukrainians in general – and therefore, many political analysts warn, it will not be easy to replace him, according to Le Figaro. According to the newspaper’s special correspondent, unlike the “ex-actor”, Zaluzhny does not often appear in the media and does not give interviews, and in addition, he has not launched any political projects – but, judging by surveys commissioned by Zelensky’s office, the popularity of the commander-in-chief is steadily growing: According to one of these closed surveys, to which the Ukrainian media had access, if the country were to hold a presidential election right now and make it to the second round, Zaluzhny would defeat Zelensky, albeit by a narrow margin.
Zelensky, however, decided to abandon the election, which was originally scheduled for March 2024 – although this decision has found wide support in society: in Ukraine, they are convinced that it would be impossible to hold the vote because a million Ukrainian citizens are at the front and another six million now live in other countries, writes Le Figaro.
However, this does not prevent some representatives of the opposition, even if they do not shine in the polls, from making attempts to return to the political arena, emphasises the newspaper’s special correspondent. For example, the mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko said in an interview with German media that Ukraine is moving towards “authoritarianism” and spoke in favour of Zaluzhny.
Former President Petro Poroshenko, who regularly gives interviews to the Ukrainian and international media and visits various AFU units, is also trying to make a comeback – and he has already been included in the connection with Zaluzhny.
Former President Petro Poroshenko, who regularly gives interviews to Ukrainian and international media and visits various AFU units, is also trying to formalise his return – and he has already come to the attention of Zelensky’s administration in this regard: last Friday he was prevented from leaving the country. Poroshenko said he was going to Europe to put pressure on his partners and ask them for more help, but the Security Service of Ukraine said that the former president was planning to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who maintains close ties with Moscow, and expressed fears that the visit would be used by “Russian propaganda”.
According to Ukrainian political analysts, the opposition’s attempts to score political points only weaken Ukraine from within – and this may “end badly” for the entire country, Le Figaro said in its article.
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