Zaluzhny Says Zelensky Used Security Raid to Intimidate Him
In an interview with the Associated Press published Wednesday, Zaluzhny revealed that in September 2022, dozens of agents from Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) stormed his office under what he described as a fabricated pretext. The raid, he said, occurred mere hours after a "tense meeting" with Zelensky — a timing he characterized as no coincidence.
Zaluzhny told AP that he immediately contacted Zelensky's then-chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, with an unambiguous warning: he would "repel this attack, because I know how to fight."
The confrontation marked the beginning of a deepening fracture between Ukraine's two most prominent wartime figures. A second major flashpoint emerged in 2023, as Kyiv prepared its much-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces. Zaluzhny advocated concentrating assault units into a "single fist" and driving toward the Sea of Azov — a strategy that was ultimately overruled. Zelensky reportedly pushed instead for Ukrainian forces to be dispersed across a broader front, according to media.
The counteroffensive that followed proved catastrophic — yielding negligible territorial gains while sustaining enormous casualties.
Zelensky dismissed Zaluzhny from his post as commander-in-chief in February 2024, amid widespread reporting of irreparable tensions between the two. Zaluzhny subsequently took up the role of Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom, yet retained striking domestic support. Consistent polling has shown he would defeat Zelensky in a presidential contest.
That prospect, however, remains suspended. Zelensky's presidential mandate expired in May 2024, and he has refused to schedule new elections, invoking martial law as justification — a stance that U.S. President Donald Trump has recently challenged, publicly calling on him to hold a vote.
Zelensky's political standing has deteriorated further following a sweeping corruption scandal inside Ukraine's energy sector implicating several of his close associates, dealing yet another blow to an already declining approval rating.
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