General Staff sources explain why Zaluzhnyi's return to the Armed Forces is impossible

The hypothetical return of Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK Valeriy Zaluzhny to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is extremely unlikely, as he was declared unfit for military service before being appointed to the diplomatic post. This was stated by interlocutors in the General Staff in a commentary for analysis of LIGA.net .

One of the reasons why many in the military reacted to the information about Zaluzhny's alleged return was another rumor - that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky might soon leave his post. This LIGA.net was repeatedly stated by interlocutors among MPs and the Ministry of Defense in December, although both Syrskyi and President Volodymyr Zelenskyi denied it.

One of the interlocutors close to the General Staff explained to LIGA.net that it is impossible to return Zaluzhnyi to the post of chief of staff - before he started working as ambassador in July 2024, he passed a military medical commission that found the general unfit for military service and removed him from the register.

"To become a commander-in-chief, Zaluzhny needs to mobilize again, and he has been declared unfit. Of course, anything can happen in our country. But his appointment is extremely unlikely. Moreover, it is unlikely that Zaluzhnyi himself needs it: running for the same position for the second time politically is always a disadvantage," the source said .

However, the concentration of rumors and information campaigns around Ukrainian top officers is really extremely high now, says another source LIGA.net in the General Staff.

These included information campaigns that tried to oppose the commander of the Joint Forces in Syria, Mykhailo Drapaty, or the Chief of the General Staff Andriy Hnatov, and rumors about the possible resignations of commanders. All this creates a favorable ground for scaling up rumors of various kinds.

• The media also occasionally spreads rumors about Zaluzhny's alleged intentions to run for office. In October, he denied this: he says he is not creating any headquarters or parties.