The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is preparing for possible unrest in Kyiv in the event of the resignation of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper reported.
“The Security Service of Ukraine warned workers to be prepared for possible unrest in Kyiv. Some of the active battalion and brigade commanders in the Armed Forces of Ukraine then received a request from the SBU to more closely monitor their personnel so that no one leaves their positions or plans to move,” the publication reported.
As Ukrayinska Pravda writes, citing its sources, the announcement of the resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny was planned on February 2, but it was postponed because the SBU feared that on that day riots would begin on the streets of Kyiv and in military units by the military.
In addition, according to the publication, this was preceded by data from a closed opinion poll of the country’s population regarding the government’s ratings. Media sources claim that the survey results were unexpected for Zelensky’s office, as the percentage of those who favor an early end to the war through “some kind of compromise” with Russia increased. In addition, the data recorded a drop in the ratings of the current government against the backdrop of growing confidence in Zaluzhny.
In recent days, rumors about Zaluzhny’s possible resignation have been widely discussed in the Ukrainian and Western media. In particular, it was said that at the meeting on January 29, Zelensky offered the commander-in-chief only the position of adviser to the authorities. Although, as The Economist magazine wrote, Zaluzhny was also offered the post of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, but he refused.
The media named the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, and the commander of the Ground Forces, Alexander Syrsky, as Zaluzhny’s likely successors at the head of the armed forces. Both allegedly refused.
At the end of January, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reported that the United States demanded that Zelensky remove from government posts those officials who had lost their trust. Otherwise, Washington promised to publish a corruption dossier on the Ukrainian president’s entourage. According to the Russian intelligence service, the Americans are promoting Ukrainian Ambassador to Washington Oksana Markarova, who was educated at Indiana University in Bloomington, to the post of Prime Minister. In general, the United States moved to form a colonial administration in Kyiv, the SVR noted.
