Who Is Valery Zaluzhny? Ukraine’s Ex-Army Chief Could Challenge Zelensky

Donald Trump’s rift with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky deepened this week as he labeled him a “dictator” and urged Ukraine to hold elections, intensifying speculation over who could succeed the Ukrainian leader.

Amid the public fallout, The Economist reported Wednesday that it had obtained internal polling indicating that General Valery Zaluzhny—who was a key figure in the war against Russia—would beat Zelensky should a wartime election be held.

Who is Valery Zaluzhny?

Zaluzhny served as Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces from 2021 to 2024 and now holds the position of ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was dismissed as head of the military on February 8, 2024, and replaced by General Oleksandr Syrsky.

Tensions between Zaluzhny and Zelensky had been simmering for months before he was removed from his post. The pair are reported to have clashed over the general’s war strategies and the challenge of mass mobilization, CNN reported.

Zaluzhny’s growing popularity among both the public and the military further fueled speculation that he posed a potential political challenge to Zelensky’s presidency, Ukrainian and Russian media outlets reported.

In a commentary for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, published shortly after Zaluzhny’s dismissal, researcher Konstantin Skorkin described the move as “the first time [Zelensky] has so openly gone against the tide of public opinion.”

He said the decision likely alienated voters who view Ukraine’s military personnel as heroes and Zaluzhny as their leader.

“But that’s only half the story,” Skorkin added, citing polls showing that 72 percent of Ukrainians—roughly the same percentage who once supported Zelensky—disagreed with Zaluzhny’s removal.

What Has Zaluzhny Said About Entering Politics?

While Zaluzhny has not officially pledged to run for office, he has not ruled out the possibility.

When asked about his potential participation in Ukraine’s future presidential elections, he dismissed the question as “inappropriate” but hinted at a future decision.

“The appropriate conditions will come, and then I, as someone serving in a government position, will be able to answer such questions,” he told reporters, Ukrainian online publication Strana reported on Wednesday.

Internal polling obtained by The Economist indicates that while Zelensky remains Ukraine’s most popular politician, he would lose a future election to Zaluzhny by 30 percent to 65 percent, the magazine said.

Trump Calls for Wartime Elections

In a post riddled with inaccuracies on his Truth Social account, Trump branded Zelensky a “modestly successful comedian” who “refuses to have Elections.”

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only “TRUMP,” and the Trump Administration, can do,” he wrote.

Trump was parroting the Kremlin’s talking points in calling for Ukraine to hold elections amid the war. Moscow has long sought to discredit the Ukrainian government by claiming that Zelensky is an illegitimate president, although martial law prohibits elections during wartime for safety reasons.

Elections were suspended in February 2022 under martial law that was imposed in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed Zelensky doesn’t have the right to sign any documents in potential peace deals and that he has lost legitimacy because the country hasn’t held recent presidential elections.

On February 1, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, told Reuters that Washington wants Kyiv to hold elections by the end of the year, as “most democratic nations have elections in their time of war.”

“I think it is good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running,” said Kellogg.

What Happens Next

Ukraine may face pressure to hold elections as a condition for receiving military aid from Washington. However, whether Zaluzhny will enter the political arena remains uncertain.