Zelensky considers a major shakeup of Ukraine’s leadership, beyond expected ouster of military chief

By Pierre Meilhan and Andrew Carey, CNN

(CNN) — President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is considering replacing many of Ukraine’s leaders, including the head of the military, to “reset” the country’s path nearly two years since the full-scale Russian invasion.

In an interview with Italian news outlet RAI published on Sunday, Zelensky said that “a new beginning is necessary,” and that he has “something serious in mind, which does not concern a single person but the direction of the country’s leadership.”

“When we talk about this, I mean a replacement of a series of state leaders, not just in a single sector like the military,” Zelensky told RAI.

Zelensky did not offer clarify who would be replaced, but his comments come amid speculation over the future of army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Differences between the two men have been simmering for many months but appeared to grow wider towards the end of last year.

In November, Zaluzhnyi referred to the situation on the battlefield as a “stalemate,” drawing sharp criticism from the deputy chief of the president’s office, who said such commentary about the war only benefitted Russia.

More recently, the two leaders clashed over whether Ukraine needed a mass mobilization effort. The army chief had suggested that the drafting of up to half a million additional soldiers was required, which Zelensky resisted.

That operation began in June and was aimed at driving Russian forces back from the territories they have occupied since 2022, particularly in the south of the country. Ukraine had aimed to push south from the town of Orikhiv towards the Sea of Azov, splitting Russia’s forces in two and cutting its land bridge to Crimea.

Kyiv’s gains, however, were modest, and that lack of progress led to a call from Zaluzhnyi and the armed forces at the end of December for a huge mobilization effort of new conscripts. The request is currently before parliament.

With the two year anniversary of the war approaching, Ukraine finds itself struggling on several fronts to keep its war effort chugging along. Russian troops are wearing down Ukrainian forces on the front line who find themselves on the defensive, and with Western arms shipments and foreign aid drying up, Kyiv’s soldiers are increasingly outmanned and outgunned as well.

Though the European Union recently approved $50 billion in aid for Kyiv, funds from Washington are caught in a paralyzed Congress, with many Republicans hewing closer to the isolationist views of former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for his party’s presidential nomination.

In an exclusive essay for CNN, published last week as reports swirled around his expected departure, Zaluzhnyi acknowledged that Ukraine must adapt to a reduction in military aid from its key allies as they are “grappling with their own political tensions.” It also notes that developments in the Middle East since October have drawn international attention elsewhere.

The piece also characterizes the situation as a war of position – one defined by attrition and a lack of movement on the battlefield – amounted to a recognition that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was effectively over.

It does not, however, reference his relationship with the President.

Zelensky is expected to announce Zalzhnyi’s dismissal in the coming days, though presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov told CNN and other news outlets last week that rumors of the army chief’s imminent firing were untrue.

Zelensky has already replaced his defense minister and several defense deputies, but letting Zalzhnyi go would mark the biggest military shake-up since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Zalzhnyi’s ouster would also be a politically risky move for Zelensky, given the general’s immense popularity has survived counteroffensive’s failure. A poll published by the Kyiv Institute of Sociology in December found 88% of Ukrainians supported the army chief compared to 62% for the President.

The poll was conducted after differences between the two leaders had apparently broken into the open over the prosecution of the war.

CNN’s Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report

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