Zaluzhny Lifts Lid on Zelensky Rift, Failed Counteroffensive – and Surprise Manafort Contact

February 20 ------ Ukraine’s former Armed Forces chief says deep rifts with President Volodymyr Zelensky undermined Kyiv’s 2023 counteroffensive and triggered a dramatic standoff with security services – as he also revealed being approached by Paul Manafort, the ex-campaign chief of US President Donald Trump and ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Since being removed as Ukraine’s army chief in 2024 and appointed ambassador to the UK, Valery Zaluzhny has increasingly been viewed as Zelensky’s main political rival, according to the Associated Press (AP). “Zaluzhny spoke publicly for the first time about a deep rift between himself and Zelensky in a recent interview with The Associated Press,” the introduction to the AP’s interview with Zaluzhny reads.

He said tensions began soon after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, with frequent clashes over military strategy. “The strained relationship reached a boiling point later that year, when dozens of agents from Ukraine’s domestic intelligence service raided Zaluzhny’s office,” as per AP’s report.

Zaluzhny called the previously unreported incident an act of intimidation that risked exposing internal divisions during wartime. He said that in mid-September 2022 – during Ukraine’s northeast counteroffensive – he returned to his Kyiv office after a tense meeting at Zelensky’s headquarters. Hours later, agents from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrived to search the premises, with more than a dozen British officers present. Zaluzhny said the agents offered no explanation, and Zaluzhny blocked their access to documents and computers.

Calling it a direct threat, he phoned then-presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak and warned: “I told Yermak that I would repel this attack, because I know how to fight.” He also contacted SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk, who told him he knew nothing about the operation.

Court documents later showed the SBU had obtained a warrant linked to an alleged criminal case involving a strip club. But two employees told AP the club had closed at that location before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Zaluzhny believes the warrant was a pretext and says it is implausible that investigators could have mistakenly targeted Ukraine’s main wartime command center.

However, the agency stressed that no searches were conducted. It said that at the time, SBU investigators were carrying out actions under a separate criminal case focused on combating organized crime, involving a large number of addresses. One of those addresses, the SBU said, happened to coincide with a reserve covert command post used by Zaluzhny. “In fact, no searches or investigative actions were carried out by the SBU at this location. Moreover, Vasyl Maliuk and Valerii Zaluzhny discussed the matter immediately and directly, and the situation was clarified,” the SBU added.

Source: kyivpost.com