Siobhán O'Grady
KYIV — After months of heavy losses in a largely stalled counteroffensive against Russia, tension among Ukraine’s senior leaders has spilled awkwardly into the open in recent days — prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for a halt to political infighting.
“Everyone should be concentrating their efforts right now on defending the country,” Zelensky said Monday in his nightly address. “Put themselves together and do not rest; do not drown in infighting or other issues.” He warned that shattered unity could have drastic consequences: “The situation is now the same as it was before — if there is no victory, there will be no country.”
Zelensky’s plea to stop any infighting came after he engaged in his own rare public dispute with the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, over whether the war has reached a World War I-style “stalemate” — as Zaluzhny asserted in a recent interview with the Economist.
Zelensky then rebuffed those remarks at a news conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Everyone is tired and there are different opinions,” Zelensky said when discussing Zaluzhny’s “stalemate” remark. He also told NBC News that he does “not think that this is a stalemate.” But one of the president’s aides went so far as to say on Ukrainian TV that a comment like Zaluzhny’s to the media “eases the work” of Russia.
Zaluzhny, a career military officer, enjoys huge national popularity, and he is widely viewed as a potential threat to Zelensky should he ever jump into politics. So far, the general has given no indication that he plans such a move.
But after 20 months of all-out war, public fissures are starting to appear in Ukraine’s previously unshakable national unity. The issue of a stalemate is especially sensitive because Ukrainian officials fear a perceived deadlock could mean they will be pressured into negotiations with Russia that would force them to cede territory. An overwhelming majority of Ukrainians oppose territorial concessions.
The friction among leaders is on full display as Ukraine prepares for the possibility of another brutal winter with virtually no hope of any significant progress on the southern front. Even Zaluzhny has said: “There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.”
These open disagreements “serve as a distraction from winning the war and definitely play into [the] enemy’s hands,” said Alyona Getmanchuk, founder and director of the New Europe Center, a think tank in Kyiv. “[E]verything starts from … unity inside Ukraine,” Getmanchuk said.
The lack of good news is dampening civilian morale, as are growing fears Russia will soon renew its attacks on energy infrastructure that could make life miserable during the coldest months of the year.
The pressure is coming not only from the battlefield. International attention has largely diverted to the war in Israel and Gaza. And in Washington, there are disagreements among lawmakers over additional aid for Ukraine.
On Monday, Zelensky publicly dismissed the possibility of holding a presidential election in spring, as would normally occur on Ukraine’s political calendar. Some foreign officials had urged Zelensky to press on with elections, as a show of the country’s commitment to democracy.
Zelensky, however, declared that discussions of elections were “utterly irresponsible” during wartime. The country is under martial law, which prohibits holding elections. In addition to thousands of soldiers fighting on the front, millions of Ukrainians have been displaced by the war, which makes holding a fair election almost impossible.
Until now, Ukraine had shown solid national unity with political rivalries set aside as the country fought back against the Russian invasion. In recent days in Kyiv, however, some observers have expressed frustration over the sense that infighting has played a role in key decisions with potentially serious effects on the outcome of the war.
Last week, for example, Zelensky’s office removed Gen. Viktor Khorenko, who headed the country’s special forces.
Khorenko, who served under Zaluzhny, told Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that he did not know the reason for his dismissal and that he “learned about it from the media.” Zaluzhny, he said, also appeared blindsided by the announcement and “could not explain this to me.”
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, whose predecessor Oleksii Reznikov was ousted by Zelensky in September amid a corruption inquiry, said in a statement posted on Facebook that he could not publicly describe the reasons for Khorenko’s dismissal because such revelations could aid Russia.
In a top comment on Facebook that was liked hundreds of times, former vice prime minister Pavlo Rozenko criticized Umerov’s handling of the issue. “You made a very big mistake when you made this submission behind Zaluzhny’s back,” Rozenko wrote. “And it is precisely such mistakes that weaken Ukraine in this war! … It is very unfortunate that political intrigues prevail in this situation!”
No comments:
Post a Comment