The head of Ukraine's military intelligence service (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, dismissed rumors that the reason behind the replacement of former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny, was a conflict with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In an interview with CBC News, Budanov said that there could hardly have been personal differences between Zelensky and Zaluzhny, as one of them was directly subordinate to the other.

He also implied that Zelensky made the right decision in dismissing Zaluzhny and appointing the new Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrsky.

“If everything is good and everything is wonderful and everything is done correctly, then why are we in the situation we are in?” he asked. 

On Feb. 8 Zelensky signed a decree dismissing Zaluzhny, who had held the position since 2021.

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Zelensky called Syrsky “the most experienced Ukrainian commander.”

Before his promotion, Syrsky served as the Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Following his dismissal, Zaluzhny said that “the tasks of 2022 are different from the tasks of 2024, so everyone must change and adapt to the new realities in order to win together.”

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