President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that military commanders should engage in either war or politics, if the military leads the war, and thinks about politics - this is a "huge mistake."
He said this in an interview with the British publication The Sun, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
“If a military man decided to do politics, it is his right, then he should enter politics and then he can’t deal with war. If you manage war keeping in mind that tomorrow you will do politics or elections, then in your words and on the front line you behave as a politician and not as a military man, and I think that is a huge mistake,” Zelenskyy said.
The President also warned that in this case there is a risk of disobedience by soldiers.
“With all the respect to General Zaluzhnyi and to all the commanders who are on the battlefield, there is an absolute understanding of the hierarchy and that is it, and there can’t be two, three, four, five. It is one, in accordance with the law and in times of war this can’t even be discussed. That does not lead to the unity of the nation.” Zelenskyy added.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the President said that holding elections is illegal under martial law and will divide the country, which is focused on combating russia's full-scale aggression.
On November 7, Verkhovna Rada Member Volodymyr Ariev (European Solidarity faction) said that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov made a submission to the dismissal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and subsequently deleted the post about it.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov compared such statements with the work of russian propagandists.
The events occurred against the background of criticism of the Office of the President of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, which Western media interpreted as a bright public rebuke that signaled a split between the military and civilian leadership.
After that, the head of the Office of the President Andrii Yermak said that there was no split in the military-political leadership of the country.
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