Valery Fedorovych Zaluzhnyi - Ukrainian military commander, general, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (from July 2021 to February 2024), ambassador of Ukraine to Great Britain (from May 9, 2024). In May 2022, he entered the list of the 100 most influential people of 2022 according to Time magazine.
He was born on July 8, 1973 in Novohrad-Volynskyi (now Zviahel), Zhytomyr Region, in a military family.
Education
In 1989, after graduating from the city school, he entered the Novohrad-Volynskyi Mechanical Engineering College, which he graduated in 1993 with honors.
In 1997, he graduated with honors from the Odesa Institute of Ground Forces.
In 2007, he graduated from the National Defense Academy of Ukraine with a gold medal.
In 2014, he graduated from the National Defense University of Ukraine named after Ivan Cherniakhovskyi. As the best graduate of the operational-strategic level of training, he was awarded the transitional sword of the Queen of Great Britain.
In December 2020, he graduated from the master's degree of the Ostroh Academy, majoring in International Relations.
In December 2023, he defended his thesis in law and obtained the scientific degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The defense of the dissertation took place at the National University "Odesa Law Academy".
Career
In 2009 - 2012, he was the commander of the 51st separate mechanized brigade.
In 2014, he was appointed deputy commander of sector "C", which was formed in the Donetsk Region. Since then, he led almost all the groups that were created there.
In 2017 - chief of staff - first deputy commander of troops of the operational command "West".
In 2018, he was the chief of the Joint Operational Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the first deputy commander of the Joint Forces.
In 2019-2021, he was the commander of the forces of the "North" operational command.
In July 2021, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine instead of Ruslan Khomchak.
On January 29, 2024, a number of Ukrainian mass media and anonymous Telegram channels reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly dismissed the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Later, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and Zelenskyy's press secretary Serhii Nikiforov denied this information. According to the media, Zelenskyy allegedly decided to remove the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhnyi due to disagreements that arose during the discussion about how many Ukrainians needed to be mobilized.
On February 8, 2024, in an evening video message, Zelenskyy announced that he had appointed Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, instead of Zaluzhnyi, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On May 8, 2024, Zelenskyy dismissed Zaluzhnyi from military service due to his state of health. And the next day he appointed him the ambassador of Ukraine to Great Britain.
Family
Wife Olena, they have two daughters, the eldest is a military.