Zelensky has sacked a Ukrainian hero

If you have to ask Ukrainians to name the biggest hero of the past two years, most would probably say Valery Zaluzhny, who has just been fired as the head of the military. Under his command, Kyiv was defended and Ukraine reclaimed more than half of the territory that Russia occupied since February 2022. It was Zaluzhny, as much as president Zelensky, who inspired Ukrainians. But now he has been sacked. One of his former deputies, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky has taken his place.

Zelensky broke the news in a video address to the nation. ‘I am grateful for every victory we achieved together and thanks to all Ukrainian soldiers who are heroically fighting this war’, he said. ‘We spoke frankly today about what needs to change in the army. Urgent changes.’ He says he wants General Zaluzhny to ‘remain on the team’ in the military and that he’d be ‘grateful if he agrees’.