Survey reveals Ukrainians trust in military, but trust in Zelenskyy is dropping
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Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov visit an artillery training center, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location in Ukraine November 3, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File PhotoREUTERS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy fired all of Ukraine's regional military recruitment heads in August in a corruption crackdown.
He said at the time a state investigation into centers across Ukraine had exposed abuses by officials ranging from illegal enrichment to transporting draft-eligible men across the border despite a wartime ban on them leaving the country.
Asked by reporters on the sidelines of an event on Monday about whether the decision affected mobilization levels, Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi bemoaned the recruitment chiefs' sacking.
"These were professionals, they knew how to do this, and they are gone," Interfax Ukraine cited him as saying.
Ukrainska Pravda, a major Ukrainian media outlet, recently reported of a long history of growing tensions between the two men, citing several anonymous officials.
Asked by reporters to comment on the Defence Ministry's recent plan to boost military recruitment, Zaluzhnyi said the old system should be brought back.
"It is still a little early to evaluate recruiting. As for mobilization issues, it is not necessary to strengthen it, but to return it to those boundaries (and) to those frameworks that worked before," Interfax Ukraine quoted him as saying.
Ukraine, which initially saw tens of thousands of eager volunteers queue up to fight off Russia's invasion, is now trying to conscript more men to replace those currently at the front.
Angry social media posts have abounded in recent weeks purporting to show army recruiters turning up at gyms and resorts to hand out draft notices.
Zaluzhnyi's remarks come a day after it was publicly revealed that an information gathering device had been found in an office that he had been due to move into, with the domestic security service launching an investigation.
(Reporting by Max Hunder, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
General Staff affirms eavesdropping equipment discovery in Zaluzhny’s office
Several Ukrainian media outlets reported it earlier, citing their military and security sources.
The General Staff says that on 17 December, “elements of equipment for capturing information were found in one of the locations,” during a routine inspection of the offices.
- “The listening devices were installed in the offices of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and employees of the Staff’s Office,” the report reads. According to the General Staff, it notified the Security Service of Ukraine to “establish the circumstances of the incident, its consequences, and the persons involved.”
Zaluzhnyi gives more details
In his comment to RBC Ukraine, the Commander-in-Chief confirmed today that the eavesdropping equipment was found in one of his offices:
“Let me tell you this: this is the room I was supposed to use today. Yesterday, during the inspection, they found [the listening devices] in it,” Zaluzhnyi said.
He also confirmed that the bugged office was not his permanent location:
“I have several places where I work. And this happened in one of them. I haven’t been there for a long time. But we checked and found [the equipment],” said Zaluzhnyi, adding the eavesdropping equipment was found not only in his office, but elsewhere in the office too.
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Ukraine’s game of thrones
Ukraine’s war efforts are at risk of international sabotage. If, in 2024, Kyiv does not continue to receive military and financial aid from the United States and its Western allies, it could not only lose more territory to Russia, but also face a political crisis at home, which is the last thing the war-torn nation needs.
- Meantime, as a result of Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive, launched in June, political tensions between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the country’s commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny have become increasingly apparent.
- The two most recently appeared at odds over whether the war stands at a “stalemate”.
A blame-game between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhny has played out over months, as Ukrainian forces have found their progress stymied, even though internationally the finger has been pointed at the West for slow weapons deliveries. Former Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovych has also accused the West of “not providing the military support it promised to Kyiv”.
- But tellingly, Arestovych has criticised the Ukrainian leadership, too.
- Such political tension isn’t surprising, given the lack of significant progress over the past six months, even as Zelenskyy insists that a slowdown in operations against Russian forces is due to the onset of winter.
However, reports also suggest that Ukrainian military is facing ammunition shortages. At issue isn’t only US support. Neighbouring European countries also seem to be (indirectly) undermining Kyiv’s position.
- Polish truck drivers blocked access roads to border crossings in November, arguing that their livelihoods are at stake after the European Union relaxed some transport rules and Ukrainian truckers undercut their business.
- The Polish drivers were soon joined by their Slovak colleagues on 1 December, while Slovakia’s recently appointed Prime Minister Robert Fico has declared that he will terminate his country’s military support to Kyiv.
- Neighbouring Hungary has also insisted that Budapest will never deliver weapons to Ukraine, with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto claiming that the “more weapons delivered, the longer the war will take”.
- Hungary recently vetoed the European Union’s plan to commit €50 billion ($81.86 billion) to support Kyiv in its war against Russia.
The Kremlin sees opportunity in the prospect that the Ukraine war could be overshadowed, and hopes to retake the initiative in the battlefield, seize more territory in Donbass, as well as regions in southeastern Ukraine. Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim in recent days that the Ukrainian port city Odesa is a Russian city, as well as the whole southeast of Ukraine being historically Russian territories, indicates that Moscow is not giving up on its ambitions.
Zelenskyy, on the other hand, warns that his country cannot win the war without foreign support, and reportedly fears that the West could abandon Kyiv.
- That Ukraine got the green light to start talks on joining the European Union suggests that concern about fading political support could be overblown.
- But what Ukraine desperately needs is military aid.
- Without it, Kyiv could lose more territory to Russia.
- It is uncertain whether the country will hold a presidential election, with Zelenskyy’s mandate due expires in March 2024.
- Zelenskyy has said there cannot be elections as long as the country is at war and under martial law, but the question seems far from settled.
- Zelenskyy’s former ally Arestovych has already announced his candidacy for the Ukrainian presidency, although having fallen from grace with the country’s political elite, also describes himself as a “self-exiled opposition politician” and is currently based in the United States.
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He declined to comment on whether Ukraine would continue counteroffensive operations during the winter.
Last month, Zaluzhnyi told the Economist the war had entered a phase of attritional fighting in which neither side would make much progress unless there was a technological breakthrough.
He also suggested that Russia was slowly getting the upper hand thanks to its superior numbers.
“Just like in the first world war, we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate,” he said, adding: “There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.”
Ukraine has scaled back military operations due to shortfall in foreign assistance, says commander
Frontline Ukrainian soldiers face shortages of artillery shells and have scaled back some military operations because of a lack of foreign assistance, a senior army general has said.
- He told Reuters: There’s a problem with ammunition, especially post-Soviet (shells) – that’s 122 mm, 152 mm. And today these problems exist across the entire frontline …
- The volumes that we have today are not sufficient for us today, given our needs. So, we’re redistributing it. We’re replanning tasks that we had set for ourselves and making them smaller because we need to provide for them.
Tarnavskyi added that the shortage of artillery shells was a significant issue for Ukraine, but also noted that Russian forces faced ammunition problems.
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's top general on Monday issued his strongest criticism to date of a previous presidential decision to fire regional military draft office chiefs, Interfax Ukraine reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy fired all of Ukraine's regional military recruitment heads in August in a corruption crackdown.
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