The dispute between Zelenskyi and Salushnyi is a fake
Rumors about conflicts between the Ukrainian President Selenskyj and Commander-in-Chief Saluschnyj keep circulating. This is not really plausible. Russia, in particular, seems to have an interest in hyping up the issue.
In normal times, domestic political life in Ukraine is turbulent and changeable. Only one president has been re-elected for a second term in office since independence. "The next election campaign begins on election night" is a common saying in political Kiev that aptly describes Ukrainian political culture.
After the Russian invasion in February 2022, however, domestic politics largely came to a standstill: Despite some heated debate, the scheduled presidential elections scheduled for next March will not take place either. A decision that not only corresponds to the legal situation, but is also supported by the breadth of Ukrainian society: According to various polls, at least two thirds of Ukrainians believe that elections are currently not the right time.
President Volodymyr Zelensky's strong stance shortly after the Russian invasion initially silenced even his biggest critics. Now, 21 months later, the situation is different. Support for Zelensky remains high, even if the year did not go as well as the Ukrainians had hoped in military terms. According to the Kyiv International Sociology Institute, 76% currently have confidence in Zelensky - 15 points less than in May 2022, but a decent figure. However, only 39% of Ukrainians trust the cabinet, while only 21% have confidence in parliament, in which Zelensky's "Servants of the People" faction has an absolute majority.
It all started with Bachmut
It is above all the constant rumors of a conflict between the president and the popular commander-in-chief, Valery Salushnyi, that are adding fuel to the fire. Salushnyi was appointed the highest-ranking Ukrainian general by Zelenskyi in mid-2021, which caused a certain amount of jealousy in the army at the time: still comparatively young at 50, Salushnyi was not necessarily the candidate who would have been next in line in the informal hierarchy. However, Zelensky took a typical risk, which paid off: The fact that Russia failed to achieve the original goals of the so-called "special operation" bears the signature of the "Iron General" - the nickname is an allusion to Salushnyj's surname, which sounds similar to the word for "iron" in Ukrainian.
The first reports of alleged differences of opinion between Zelenskyi and Salushnyi appeared in the US media around a year ago. The issue was that the president and the commander-in-chief had different views on the defense of Bachmut, but this remained unconfirmed. Recently, however, there have been a number of coinciding events that have fueled speculation. Ihor Shovkva, a senior representative of the President's Office, was openly critical of an article by Salushnyi in the British Economist. In it, the general had soberly described the situation at the front and warned against a trench war. Selensky himself said in interviews with the US broadcaster Fox News and the British "Sun" that the military should not get involved in politics in times of war and should respect existing hierarchies.
The Poroshenko party is pushing the issue
According to sources from the Ukrainian online medium RBC Ukraine, relations between Zelenskyi and Salushnyi have indeed cooled somewhat. The president's office holds the general in high esteem for his military skills, but was not happy about the apparently uncoordinated "Economist" article because Zaluzhnyi knows little about relations with Western partners. At the same time, RBC Ukraine wants to know that Salushnyi, by far the most popular public figure in the country alongside Zelenskyi, currently has no political ambitions and is fully focused on the war. There should therefore be no basis for a conflict - actually.
The problem is that a perceived mood of conflict can arise regardless of what Salushnyi and Zelenskyi want. MPs and supporters of Zelensky's predecessor and arch-rival Petro Poroshenko's party in particular are pushing the issue. In the run-off election against Zelenskyi in 2019, Poroshenko received just over 24%. This roughly corresponds to the potential of the national-liberal electorate, which categorically rejects the originally Russian-speaking Zelensky, who was often seen on Russian state television before 2014. This makes it all the less dangerous for the president to see his confidence ratings drop to 76%: after the initial euphoria, this is more a return to normality.
"Maidan 3"
However, the fact that Poroshenko-affiliated TV stations are talking about Ukraine needing a de Gaulle or an Eisenhower as president is anything but harmless - in this construction, Salushnyi is being misused in the political battle against Zelenskyi, as direct criticism of the president still seems inappropriate in a war. Using the general for this purpose is obvious: unlike Zelenskyi, Salushnyi triggers practically no antipathy in Ukraine because people know nothing about his political views. He seems unusually human for a military man, like a "normal guy" from the provinces, and is also successful in his field. There is not much to attack.
Russia, in particular, seems to have an interest in the escalation of the issue. Zelensky said that Moscow is working on a "Maidan 3" plan, i.e. an overthrow. Whether the Kremlin really still believes it can replace the government in Kiev is unclear. It is undisputed that Moscow is making attempts to influence public opinion in Ukraine. In recent weeks, for example, there have been plenty of deep fakes featuring Salushnyi calling for a coup against Zelenskyi in fake videos. Ukrainian users are also occasionally shown paid advertisements on Facebook that originate from one-day sites and address this topic.
Despite the suboptimal military situation, it is not foreseeable that the mood in Ukraine will change radically and that the Ukrainians' determination to fight Russia will be fundamentally called into question. However, it is clear that the return of domestic politics is also an expression of a certain disappointment, which is linked to unfulfilled hopes, among other things. Selenskyi and Salushnyi, but also the opposition, must now prove themselves to be statesmen and stateswomen for whom the war is more important than domestic political intrigues.
President Petro Poroshenko, a former Ukrainian president and known rival of Volodymyr Selensky, seems to be capitalizing on the rumors of tensions between Selensky and Commander-in-Chief Valery Salushnyi. These rumors have gained traction in Ukrainian politics, fueled partly by Poroshenko's supporters.
Russia, consistently involved in Ukraine's political landscape, has also showed interest in amplifying the perceived conflict between Selensky and Salushnyi. Accusations of spreading deepfakes and paying for social media ads with content involving Salushnyi and calls for a coup against Selensky have been levied against Moscow.
Source: www.ntv.de
