The author of an acclaimed biography of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he’d heard of multiple behind the scenes clashes ahead of the sacking of the country’s top general.
President Zelensky fired General Valerii Zaluzhnyi as commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces this week.
Speaking to Q+A with Jack Tame, TIME Magazine Ukraine correspondent and author of The Showman Simon Shuster said the decision was a long time coming.
“The tensions between these two men began to emerge really in the first months of the full scale invasion of 2022, as President Zelensky began to develop his own ideas about how to fight this war,” said Shuster.
“They were not always aligned with the views of the general, of how to use those forces and how to push the Russians back.
“So the clashes were playing out behind the scenes, I was hearing about them all the time… and they were quite distracting I would say.”
Shuster added that there is now hope within the Ukrainian government that the tensions will be set aside and progress in the war will be smoother.
“They put out images of them shaking hands, and even embracing, so it seems like they have set aside the bad blood,” said Shuster.
Shuster has covered Ukraine for TIME Magazine for the last 17 years, including the period from 2014 onwards in which the country has been in various states of war with Russia.
The long-simmering conflict in Ukraine’s eastern regions erupted into open warfare with Russia’s invasion in 2022, with territory gained in that assault still held by Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Over the recent northern hemisphere summer, a Ukrainian counter-offensive that was heavily backed by NATO and other Western countries failed to retake significant areas of territory.
Shuster said Russia is counting on war-fatigue among the Ukrainian public to bring the conflict to an end.
But he said at this stage, the idea of Zelensky trading occupied territory in exchange for peace is a “non-starter”.
“The Ukrainian people, according to all the polling we’ve seen, very consistently do not want to trade land for peace.
“I think if public opinion were to change – and this is a hypothetical – but if the Ukrainian people were to grow so exhausted with the war that they say in opinion polls they’re ready for that kind of compromise, then Zelensky would shift.
“So Zelensky’s doing everything possible to avoid that – he’s always looking for new ways to demonstrate victories.”
Shuster predicted this would include Ukrainian attacks “deep behind enemy lines”, such as the recent drone attacks on Russian oil depots and military infrastructure.
“He sees them as a way of reminding his people and the world that Ukraine is still fighting, Ukraine is not giving up.”
Q+A is made with the support of NZ on Air
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