Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyy and former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Sergey Shaptala have been discharged from military service due to health reasons. This was reported by the publications «Ukrainska Pravda» and «Zerkalo Nedeli» on Saturday, March 9, citing unnamed sources in the Ministry of Defense. According to their information, both generals have been removed from military records.
During the winter, the Chief of the General Staff underwent a military medical commission, where he was declared unfit for military service, according to sources from «Zerkalo Nedeli». They said that in February, Zaluzhnyy, who held this position since July 2021, submitted a report on his dismissal from military service.
Media: Former Commander-in-Chief was not offered a significant military position
After being dismissed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on February 8 by the decision of President Volodymyr Zelensky, Zaluzhnyy was placed under the authority of Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, as reported by «Zerkalo Nedeli». However, neither Zelensky nor Umerov offered the former Commander-in-Chief any significant military position that would be commensurate with Zaluzhnyy’s level of training and experience, the publication states. The new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces became Oleksandr, who previously commanded the Ukrainian Ground Forces.