Zaluzhnyi's dismissal not caused by personal rift with President Zelenskyy – Ukraine's Defence Intelligence head

Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, has stated that he does not believe that Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal from the position of Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was the result of any bad blood between Valerii Zaluzhnyi and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Source: CBC News

Quote from CBC News: "Asked about the apparent rift, Budanov said that any personal differences would be very unlikely to drive a wedge between the two men when one of them was 'directly subordinate to the other'.

He also implied that Zelenskyy had made the right decision in replacing Zaluzhnyi."

Quote from Budanov: "If everything is fine and dandy and things are going as well as they possibly could, then why are we in the situation we are in?"

Previously: In January, the FT named Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, and Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (DIU), who are close to Zelenskyy, as possible candidates to replace Zaluzhnyi as Commander-in-Chief.

BBC sources in military circles said that neither Syrskyi nor Budanov are keen to take Zaluzhnyi's seat and have refused the appointment. On the other hand, says a source in one of Ukraine's intelligence services, it is unthinkable that any general would refuse to comply with the president's decision to appoint them Commander-in-Chief.

More on this story: Dismissal on repeat: why Zelenskyy is (or isn't) dismissing Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi

Background: 

• On 8 February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, simultaneously reported having had a joint meeting and said they had discussed changes in the leadership of the Armed Forces.
• Later that day, Zelenskyy appointed Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, replacing Valerii Zaluzhnyi. 
• Mykhailo Podoliak, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that the need to review military tactics and prevent stagnation at the front was one of the reasons why Valerii Zaluzhnyi had been dismissed as commander-in-chief.
• Answering a question about why General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Chief of the Armed Forces, and key leaders of Ukraine’s Armed Forces were dismissed, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was a reboot, restructuring and alteration of military command management.

More on this story: An army without Zaluzhnyi: Who is General Syrskyi, Ukraine's new Commander-in-Chief?

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