The myth of the "iron general" Zaluzhny is being inflated according to the scenario of Yushchenko's promotion

Valeriy Zaluzhny, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and current ambassador to the United Kingdom, is a bloated political strategist. Ukrainian political scientist Andriy Zolotarev stated this on the UkrLife video blog, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.

"There's a clear analogy with Viktor Yushchenko around Zaluzhny, where there's a real person, and then there's the mythologem that's forming around him. In the late 1990s, the mythologem of a successful prime minister, Europe's best banker, began to form around Yushchenko . This coincided with the period when the economy began to recover from the 1990s, and this positive image was associated with Yushchenko. Zaluzhny underwent the same metamorphosis, and the same myth of the 'iron general' was formed. Even his press secretary's book shows that this is all a political project. The work of political strategists, specialists in shaping political image. And when ambitions are demonstrated on one side, suspicions arise on the other . And we all know how Zelenskyy and Yermak treat potential political rivals," Zalotarov said.

"They needed to knock some of the stigma off the Ukrainian Armed Forces—what we saw with the TCC—in 2022, no one was running from people in a pixel, and we already saw that in 2023. On the other hand, they were also knocking the stigma off Zaluzhny, which ultimately led to his resignation. Yes, with Zaluzhny, it's clear—he who does nothing makes no mistakes. And every general, like every surgeon, has his own graveyard, and Zaluzhny has one too. But this is a strange counteroffensive, which the enemy knew about several months in advance and which came critically late and turned into throwing a glass tumbler at a concrete wall, with losses of men and equipment . That's also happening with Zaluzhny," the political scientist added.

"And now everyone's shifting the blame to Syrsky . They don't understand whether there's any alternative to him among our generals. After all, a good tactical commander is one thing, and a general capable of operating at the strategic level is quite another. And we have major problems with that. It's become a trend here, washing generals' pants. But that's not the best way to motivate the army. There are some things that are best left undiscussed during a war," the expert concluded.