Political scientist on resignation of Zaluzhnyi: His dismissal weakened Ukrainian army

The dismissal of Valeriy Zaluzhnyi from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine weakened the Ukrainian army, according to political scientist Mykola Davydiuk.

Davydiuk said that with this dismissal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi weakened the Ukrainian army, but strengthened the former head of the Armed Forces as a theoretically promising politician.

"We had a superpower that the Russians were afraid of, that they did not want to see here and now. He has 400,000 destroyed occupiers – more than Khmelnytsky, Sahaidachny, or Mazepa (leaders of the Ukrainian Cossacks in 17th-18th centuries – ed.)," said Davydiuk.

The political scientist said that holding elections during a war is not advisable, as the Russians will take advantage of it, so the question of whether Zaluzhnyi will go into politics is not timely.

During the full-scale war, Zaluzhnyi consistently ranked first in trust among Ukrainians, while Zelensky dropped to third place after his resignation, with the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, taking the lead.

"The military always had high trust during the war. Charles de Gaulle also had high trust, he became president twice, as a military man did a lot for France, including nuclear weapons. Whether Zaluzhnyi wants to be 'de Gaulle' – to go into politics and become president, or wants to be 'Mannerheim' – to remain in history solely as a general – this is a question to him. But it is a choice, and I think he will make it," Davydiuk said.

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