Zelenskyy hugs Zaluzhnyi, while Ukraine's spy chief remains inscrutable: President's Office posts video of heroes being decorated

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has released a video of a ceremony in which he decorated Ukrainian defenders, including Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the recently dismissed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU).

Source: Zelenskyy on Facebook

Details: The former commander-in-chief and the president shook hands twice and shared two hugs.

Background: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine on Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Kyrylo Budanov.

Previously:

• 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.

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