Moscow, 24 May: General Valery Zaluzhny, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, was gravely injured in a Russian attack near Kherson a few weeks ago and is unlikely to return to duty, according to media sources on Wednesday.
In early May, Zaluzhny was hit in the head and had many shrapnel wounds in a missile strike on a Ukrainian command post at Posad-Pokrovskoe. According to RIA Novosti, RT.
According to the Russian service, which cited a source, the general had a craniotomy at a military hospital in Kiev after the hit, and doctors believe the 49-year-old will survive but will be unable to carry out his responsibilities as commander.
Zaluzhny’s location became unknown when he declined to attend a high-profile NATO summit on May 10.
According to Rob Bauer, Chairman of the EU’s Military Committee, Kiev informed Brussels that the Ukrainian commander would be unable to attend in person or through video connection owing to a “complex operational situation” on the ground in the confrontation with Moscow.
Zaluzhny hasn’t been seen in public since then, despite the fact that video that surfaced online in recent days suggesting he was OK turned out to be from before his disappearance.
On Saturday, however, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Anna Malyar claimed Zaluzhny was in good health and remained in command, and that rumours about him were being spread by Russia in an attempt to demoralise Ukrainian forces during the battle for the strategic Donbas city of Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukrainian. On Saturday, Moscow declared the “full capture” of Artyomovsk, but Kiev has been hesitant to recognise the fall of its vital foothold.
