“The threat of full-scale aggression is there.” As early as September 2021, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valeri Zalouzhny, prophesied on Ukrainian radio the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. A year later, the “iron general”, as the Ukrainian press dubbed him, is one of the main architects of the dazzling counter-offensive led by kyiv.
“We’ve come home now, and we won’t give it to anyone,” he thundered Monday on his facebook page, which brings together nearly half a million people. A few hours later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the reconquest of more than “6000 km2 of Ukrainian territory in the East and the South”.
Son of a soldier
Nearly seven months after the start of the conflict, the fierce resistance of the Ukrainian army against the Russian invader has made the 49-year-old colossus one of the most popular personalities in the country. “During the first months of the war, he first developed an effective defence, correctly using limited means to stabilize the front line, underlines General (2S) Jérôme Pellistrandi, editor-in-chief of the National Defense Review. Then, he proved to be just as effective in managing the offensive phase, and allowed his troops to achieve significant successes on the ground.
Dario Ingiusto / L’Express
Son of a soldier based in the Zhytomyr region (north-west), Valeri Zaloujny was born on July 4, 1973 in a Soviet military garrison in Novohrad-Volynskyi. Dreaming of enlisting, like his father, he graduated from the Land Forces Institute in Odessa in 1997, then joined the army as a platoon commander, before quickly climbing the ranks. A few months after the Maidan revolution and the flight of pro-Kremlin leader Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, he led units against pro-Russian separatists during intense fighting in the Donetsk region. The experience left a lasting mark on him.
During these years, he forged a reputation as a man close to his troops, which has lasted until today. “Unlike Soviet-trained officers, what characterizes him is that he really loves his soldiers, abounds Glen Grant, specialist in defense issues at the Baltic Security Foundation, having advised Ukraine on its military reform before war. And that’s extremely important, because for soldiers to be willing to give their best, and risk their lives, they need to know that their commander is going to support them.”
“More flexibility”
In 2019, Valeri Zaloujny was appointed head of the northern operational command, then two years later, in July 2021, commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Ukraine, by Volodymyr Zelensky. “The general process of reforming the Ukrainian Armed Forces in accordance with NATO principles and standards remains irreversible,” he said at the time. when setting out priorities. A month later, one of his first measures was to make decision-making more fluid in the army, by allowing Ukrainian soldiers to respond to enemy fire in the occupied territories, without waiting for validation by the high command.
“The reforms he has led have brought more flexibility and adaptability to the Ukrainian command, in order, in theory, to allow the right level to take the right decision at the right time”, details Yohann Michel, researcher at the ‘International Institute for Strategic Studies. “The arrival of Valeri Zaloujny, and of a new generation of officers, accompanied a process of in-depth transformation from a rigid post-Soviet model to a more agile Western model”, adds General Pellistrandi.
Its initiatives seem, for the time being, to have been crowned with success. “The liberation of localities from Russian invaders continues in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions,” the Ukrainian army said on Tuesday. In the region of Kherson, in the South, kyiv also claimed on Monday the liberation of 500 km2 in two weeks. “In this offensive phase, the Ukrainian army’s style of command is effective, because it allows rapid advance over long distances, underlines Yohann Michel. But we must nevertheless remain cautious, because the risk is go too fast, too far, and cut yourself off from your support.” So many elements that “the iron general” will have to keep in mind.