The former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny, reported on differences in views with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky regarding defense issues following the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. He shared this in an interview published on February 18.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Incident with the SBU in September 2022
According to Zaluzhny, in September 2022, after a “tense” meeting at the General Staff with Zelensky, he returned to his office in Kyiv. A few hours later, dozens of employees from the Security Service of Ukraine arrived to conduct a search. At that moment, more than ten British officers were present in the office. Zaluzhny noted that the law enforcement officers did not explain what they were looking for, but he did not allow them to check documents and computers, perceiving the SBU’s actions as a direct threat.
“I told Yermak that I would repel this attack because I know how to fight.”
He reported that in the presence of SBU employees, he called the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, and then the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk. According to Zaluzhny, Maliuk stated that he was unaware of the reasons for the raid and promised to look into the situation.
Reasons for the search and Zaluzhny’s doubts
Later, Zaluzhny found out that the SBU had approached the Kyiv District Court for a search warrant for this address two days earlier. According to court documents, the security service intended to check a strip club that, according to the investigation, was controlled by a criminal organization. At the same time, this establishment had been closed at that address even before the start of Russia’s large-scale aggression.
Zaluzhny expressed doubt that the SBU could have made a mistake regarding the location of the country’s main military command center, considering the warrant merely a pretext for the search.
The report states that the President’s Office, the SBU, and Andriy Yermak declined to comment on the situation and did not provide public statements after the information was released. The Associated Press was unable to independently verify Zaluzhny’s claims about the search.
The former Commander-in-Chief also criticized Ukraine’s military strategy, noting that it is based on an unrealistic number of troops and insufficient implementation of advanced technologies in combat operations. After his dismissal in February 2024, Zaluzhny did not participate in military decision-making but emphasized that he had “absolutely friendly” conversations with President Zelensky during two personal meetings.
In May 2024, Valeriy Zaluzhny was appointed Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom. Prior to this, he held the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, from which he was dismissed by a decision of Volodymyr Zelensky.