Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and current Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Valerii Zaluzhnyi faced Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) raid on his temporary command post in Kyiv in September 2022, which he perceived as a threat.
He spoke publicly about this for the first time in an interview with the Associated Press.
According to Zaluzhnyi, the tension between him and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arose shortly after the start of russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The conflicts concerned approaches to defending the country. During the raid, more than a dozen British officers were in his office, and the SSU agents did not explain the purpose of the search and did not have permission to view documents and computers.
The General said that during the incident he called the then head of the Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, and declared his readiness to involve the military to protect the command center.
"I will fight with you and have already called in reinforcements to the center of Kyiv for support," the AP quotes Zaluzhnyi.
Zaluzhnyi also contacted the head of the SSU, Vasyl Maliuk, who promised to look into the situation.
The court warrant for the search, which the SSU received two days before the raid, formally related to a strip club, which, as the AP noted, was closed before the start of the full-scale invasion. Zaluzhnyi believes that this was a pretext for the raid, and the service could not have been mistaken with the address of the main military command center.
The President's Office and the SSU declined to comment on the incident. The AP notes that it was unable to independently confirm Zaluzhnyi's version. At the same time, the former commander emphasized that differences over military strategy persisted throughout the war, and he often questioned the President's approaches.
"The 52-year-old Zaluzhnyi refuses to discuss his political ambitions, saying he does not want to risk national unity during a war with russia, whose full-scale phase has been going on for almost 4 years. However, as a sign of his possible desire to run for President - after the war ends - Zaluzhnyi first publicly spoke about the deep disagreement between him and Zelenskyy in a recent interview with The Associated Press," the material says.
Recall that Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, continues to fulfill his duties, and information about his alleged dismissal turned out to be rumors.
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