After being removed from his post as commander of the Ukrainian army in 2024 and appointed as the country's ambassador to Britain, Valery Zaluzhny is widely seen as President Volodymyr Zelensky's main political rival.
Zaluzhny, 52, has declined to discuss his political ambitions, saying he does not want to risk upsetting national unity during a war with Russia that is approaching its fourth anniversary. However, hinting at a possible desire to run for president after the war ends, Zaluzhny spoke publicly for the first time in a recent interview with The Associated Press about his split with Zelensky.
Tensions arose soon after the Russian invasion in February 2022, and the two officials often clashed over how best to defend the country, Zaluzhny said. The strained relationship reached a boiling point later that year, when dozens of agents from Ukraine's domestic intelligence service stormed Zaluzhny's office, he told the AP.
He claims that the incident, which has not been reported, was an act of intimidation and risked exposing their rivalry at a time when national unity was crucial.
Ukraine's Security Service, known as the SBU, said Zaluzhny's office was never searched, although it acknowledged that the address was part of an investigation unrelated to him. Zelensky's office declined to comment on the allegations, and the AP was unable to independently verify Zaluzhny's version of events about the raid.
Even years later, the revelation threatens to polarize public opinion in Ukraine at a crucial moment in the war. Russian forces are making slow but steady progress along the eastern front, with both sides holding to incompatible demands, at a time when the United States is pressuring them to reach a peace deal. Zaluzhny said that during the raid on his office in 2022, he called Zelensky’s chief of staff and warned him that he was ready to deploy the military to stop it and protect the command center: “I will fight with you and I have already called reinforcements to the center of Kyiv for support.”
Although the crisis situation in the early phase of the war was overcome, disagreements between Zaluzhny and Zelensky over how to defend the country continued, Zaluzhny claims, stating that he often questioned the president's military strategy.
Particularly contentious was the discussion of a counteroffensive in 2023, which ultimately failed, the former general said.
Although Zaluzhny's popularity with the public was solidified by a series of successes on the battlefield, Zelensky removed him from the post of army chief in February 2024, and then announced that he would be sent to London.
Political analysts largely interpreted the move as an attempt by Zelensky to limit Zaluzhny's potential as a political rival, distancing him from day-to-day events in Ukraine.
Zelensky's once-strong popularity has waned as the war continues. A corruption scandal involving several high-ranking officials in his inner circle has further eroded public trust, lawmakers and activists say. Zelensky recently overhauled his team in an effort to restore trust.
The US is increasing pressure on Russia and Ukraine to end the war. While an agreement remains elusive, Zelensky has agreed in principle to a plan outlined by US President Donald Trump, which envisages holding elections after the war ends and security guarantees are in place.
"I know how to fight"
One evening in mid-September 2022, as Ukraine was conducting a successful counteroffensive in the northeast, Zaluzhny, the then army commander, emerged from a tense meeting in Zelensky's office and headed back to his office in Kyiv.
Several hours later, dozens of Ukrainian Security Service agents showed up at his office to search the premises, he said. More than a dozen British officers were there at the time, he added.
The Ukrainian agents did not specify what they were looking for, according to Zaluzhny, who claims he prevented them from searching documents and computers.
The raid, he says, was a clear threat. In the presence of agents, he summoned Zelensky's then-chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and issued him a stern warning: "I told Yermak that I would repel this attack, because I know how he fights."
Zaluzhny then called the then head of the Security Service, Vasilje Maljuk, to ask what was going on. Maljuk, he said, said he knew nothing about the raid and promised to investigate.
He later learned that Maljuk's agency had requested a search warrant from a district court in Kyiv two days earlier to inspect the address where Zaluzhny's office is located. The agency, according to a court document obtained by the AP, sought permission to search a strip club allegedly run by a criminal organization.
However, the strip club listed in the request had been closed at that location even before the Russian invasion, two employees who work at the club's new address told the AP.
The SBU said it was checking several addresses - unrelated to Zaluzhny - as part of an organized crime investigation. The statement said one of the addresses in the criminal case turned out to be Zaluzhny's "recently established secret reserve command post".
The statement added that the SBU did not search that address and that the situation was clarified after a conversation between Maljuk and Zalužnji.
Zaluzhnji believes the search warrant was just an excuse.
Deliberate striking power
The 2023 counteroffensive was criticized by military experts, who said it was too ambitious and came too late, giving Russian forces time to consolidate their positions.
Zaluzhny says the plan he developed with the help of NATO partners failed because Zelensky and other officials were not willing to provide the resources he requested.
The original plan was to concentrate enough forces into a “single fist” to recapture the partially occupied Zaporozhye region, and then advance south to the Sea of Azov. This would cut off the land corridor that the Russian army was using to supply Crimea. Success, Zaluzhny said, required a large, concentrated buildup of forces and tactical surprise.
Instead, he claims, the forces are deployed over a wide area, which disperses their striking power.
His version of how the counteroffensive deviated from the original plan was confirmed by two Western defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.
A diplomat with political ambitions?
Zaluzhny's office at the Ukrainian Embassy in London is a reflection of his years in the general's uniform. The walls are adorned with posters of military aircraft, decorations he received in the army and children's drawings of war scenes. On the mahogany desk are model drones.
Zaluzhny’s key criticisms of Ukraine’s war strategy are that it relies on unrealistic troop numbers and is not well-organized when it comes to developing and deploying new technologies on the battlefield. He is following developments closely, but says he has not been involved in military decision-making since Zelensky dismissed him. Zaluzhny said he and Zelensky had “absolutely friendly” conversations on the two occasions they have met since then.
Some analysts believe that his absence from everyday political events in Ukraine is weakening Zaluzhny's popularity.
However, an Ipsos poll released last month showed that Zaluzhny would have 23 percent support in a hypothetical future election, compared to Zelensky's 20 percent, making him the president's main competitor.
Many Ukrainians see him as a figure capable of changing the system, said Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst in Kyiv. “People will vote not only for Zaluzhny, but also against Zelensky — blaming him for the failures of his term,” he explained.
Zaluzhny avoids talking about politics for what he says is fear of fueling divisions among Ukrainians. “Until the war is over or martial law is lifted, I will not discuss it and I have not taken any action in that direction,” he said.
Despite his reticence, numerous campaign consultants, party actors, and people from political circles continue to approach Zalužnji and offer assistance in designing the campaign.
Zaluzhny said he was approached in the spring of 2025 by a “fairly well-known” American political consultant. An official close to Zaluzhny, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the person was Paul Manafort, who was Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign chairman before being convicted in 2018 of crimes that included secretly lobbying for former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
"I thanked him for his attention, but I said I didn't need his services," Zaluzhny said. Manafort, who was pardoned by Trump at the end of his first term, did not return calls or messages from the AP.
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