Defense Minister Umerov refutes rumors of attempting to sack Zaluzhnyi
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov never submitted a request to dismiss Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi from his post, the minister said in a Facebook post on Nov. 7.
Earlier that day, Ukrainian MP Volodymyr Ariev, citing a "reliable source," said that Umerov had submitted a request for Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal. Russian channels quickly picked up Ariev's social media post. Later, Ariev retracted his previous post, citing "many other sources" that allegedly contradicted the claim of his original source.
Read also: Three important messages from Zaluzhnyi in the article and interview in the Economist
In his Facebook post, Umerov wrote that “unscrupulous politicians are trying to divide Ukrainian society.”
“The information war is a component of Russia's aggression against Ukraine; One should not become a pawn in it, let alone abettors.”
Read also: Russia targets defense minister Umerov in disinformation campaign — Ukrainian intelligence
The minister also urged everyone in Ukraine to focus on defense issues and "do everything to strengthen the Ukrainian state."
Earlier, Zaluzhnyi in a notable series of materials for The Economist stated that the war is moving into a grueling positional phase for Ukraine. Following this, the President’s Office issued several statements with indirect rebuttals to the general.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a later interview acknowledged that the battlefield situation is currently difficult but did not believe that the war had reached a stalemate. He suggested a potential change in Ukraine's military strategy without specifying details.
Last week, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces commander Viktor Khorenko had been dismissed without the knowledge of Khorenko or Zaluzhnyi. The President’s Office stated that Rustem Umerov had submitted the proposal for the commander's dismissal in accordance with the law.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine