Tough 'Iron General' goes to war on diplomatic front

Sacked commander-in-chief of Ukraine Valeryi Zaluzhnyi is excelling as an ambassador to London, writes Kim Sengupta

-  Kim Sengupta

A signpost has been erected on a shattered road in a village near Kharkiv with a new name for the place: Zaluzhne. This was after Valeryi Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of Ukraine's army. Following the liberation of Kherson in the south from the Russians, graffiti was sprayed on a wall pitted with bullet holes: “God and Zaluzhnyi are with us.”

The admiration for General Zaluzhnyi is felt widely at home and among allies abroad, for the inspiring role he played as the chief of Ukraine’s armed forces in repelling Vladimir Putin’s invasion against the odds. Now, as the war enters a pivotal stage, with the Russians making gains across a number of areas and an expected offensive in the east, with Kharkiv and surrounding areas like Zaluzhne among the targets, Gen Zaluzhnyi is embarking on a new role for his country as ambassador in London.

The removal from the military of the tough soldier who had earned the sobriquet the “Iron General” has not been without controversy. It was done at the wishes of Volodymyr Zelensky, one change among many at the top of the security hierarchy carried out by the office of the Ukrainian president. The defence minister Oleksii Reznikov and all six deputy defence ministers have been moved from their posts, as have Oleksii Danilov, the head of the National Security Council; General Serhyi Shaptala, the chief of the general staff, and Serhiy Shefir, who held the post of first assistant, a senior adviser to the president.