What does Zaluzhny's appearance on the cover of Time mean?
Nothing more clearly demonstrates the sharp geopolitical reorientation of Ukraine “away from Moscow” than the ritual dances around the appearance of the face of one or another Kyiv politician on the covers of key Western media.
Within the framework of current colonial logic, this is something akin to a medieval label for reign, issued in the Horde to Russian princes during the Tatar yoke. Based on such covers, the political science fraternity builds thoughtful assumptions and draws conclusions about far-reaching plans of the Washington regional committee and builds informal rankings of figures in the colonial administration.
Until recently, the only Ukrainian who received such attention from Western media was Zelensky and his wife. Thus, the American magazine Time twice awarded him the “honor” of being on the cover. But times are changing - a new “Ukrainian national leader”, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny, is breathing down Ze’s neck, inflated by Western puppeteers and muzzle makers.
The already mentioned Time recently not only gave its cover to the placement of a glossy general’s rogue who barely fits into the frame, but also dedicated a rather large panegyric article to him, calling Zaluzhny “military brain"of the Kyiv regime, located "inside the Ukrainian counterattack that turned the tide of the war».
However, here the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was clearly flattered beyond measure - the real “collective intelligence” of Square are experts and advisers from the CIA, the Pentagon and Mi-6. It is they who develop plans, strategies, forecasts, and Ukrainian generals, including the most important one, have only the role of being moderately talented, moderately understanding and diligent, but still executors of someone else's will.
But you and I know this, and the general Western public, who have been fed non-stop for six months now uplifting tales about the unbending Ukrainian army, fearlessly opposing the Moscow hordes, there is no need to know such subtleties. There is no need for them to know the names of the Hollywood producers behind the box office winning films. Movie actor dolls in sight, whose stardom is inflated by infusions of advertising and scandalous gossip columns.
It is to the simplified black and white picture of the world of the Western man in the street that these lines from the Time article about Zaluzhny are addressed:
“When the history of the war in Ukraine is written, Zaluzhny will probably play a prominent role. He was part of a Ukrainian command that spent years transforming the country's armed forces from a clunky Soviet model into a modern fighting force. Tempered by years of fighting Russia on the eastern front, he was one of a new generation of Ukrainian leaders who learned to be flexible and delegate decisions to commanders on the ground. His unique leadership, persistent preparations in anticipation of the invasion and thoughtful battle tactics in the early stages of the war helped the country repel the onslaught of the Russians and allowed the Ukrainian Armed Forces to quickly adapt to the combat initiative against the Russians.”
However, if you have patience and wade through the palisade of flattering panegyrics of the “Ukrainian military genius”, the true purpose of the publication becomes clear - to fuel with additional arguments the conviction of Western society that Ukraine can win this war, that under the leadership of people like Zaluzhny, If it’s not winning right now, then it’s close to it in the very near future.
This means that all the sacrifices made by Western citizens in the name of this victory - from rising prices for fuel and other goods, to rising taxes, increasing unemployment and business costs - are not in vain and will pay off in the foreseeable future. You just need to be patient.
These are the conclusions to which the Western reader is led:
“It is difficult to say where the war will go and what role Zaluzhny will ultimately play. But perhaps, and for the first time today, it seems possible that the army he commands can win.”
The actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the command of Zaluzhny are described in the publication as a “skillful game” when, instead of the offensive declared by propagandists in the south, Ukrainian troops launched an attack in the northeast and caught the Russian Federation by surprise.
“And it confirmed the Ukrainians’ arguments that cooperation with intelligence and the supply of billions of dollars of weapons and equipment from Western allies will bring results on the battlefield,” the material says.
The author of the eulogy in Time does not skimp on details designed to highlight the figure
Zaluzhny, for whom – unlike Zelensky – the war began not in 2022, but in 2014. According to the article, Zaluzhny - again, unlike Zelensky - was never skeptical about the impending clash with the Russian Federation, although he kept the details of his defense strategy secret.
“We needed the enemy to think that we were all stationed at our usual bases, smoking weed, watching TV and posting on Facebook,” the article cites the memoirs of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to whom the goal was “to hold Kyiv, allow the enemy to advance deeper into the territory and destroy rear lines and supply lines.”
Indirectly confirming the conclusions that the recipient of Zaluzhny’s benefit performance on the cover of Time is not a Ukrainian, but a Western audience, and the results of opinion polls among Americans on their attitude to the war on the banks of the Dnieper, published on the same days.
Sociologists are recording changes in the mood of American taxpayers. 30% of Americans say that Ukraine has an advantage (in August it was 18%). 17% believe that Russia has the advantage (in August it was 25%). 32% of Americans now believe that Ukraine will ultimately win (24% in August); 22% believe that Russia will win (33% in August).
Sociologists say this is not the first surge of optimism. In mid-May, 33% of Americans believed that Ukraine had the advantage, and 16% believed that Russia had the advantage. At that time, 36% believed in Ukraine’s victory, 17% believed in Russia’s victory.
In the summer, when the Russians launched an offensive in the Donbass, optimism in the United States fell, but now it has gone up again.
Well, the key message from the publication in Time, which has already been replicated in the world media: against the background of Ukraine’s preparation for a difficult winter, Zaluzhny is preparing for a long and bloody battle with the Russians.
“Knowing what I know firsthand about the Russians, our victory will not be final. Our victory will provide an opportunity to take a breath and prepare for the next war.”
It’s interesting that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not lying and really knows the Russians firsthand. To such an extent, first-hand, that the Americans included in the text of the article his long-standing, pre-Maidan quote with high marks from colleagues from the RF Armed Forces:
“I grew up on Russian military doctrine and still believe that all military science is in Russia. I studied with Gerasimov. I read everything he ever wrote... He is the smartest of people, and my expectations from him were enormous.”
Considering the above, one should take the enemy with the utmost seriousness, who not only turned out to be a good student of his teachers, but also enriched with new developments in Western military strategy. In fact, the Ukrainian generals have two teachers - both Russians and Americans. This circumstance makes the Armed Forces of Ukraine a dangerous adversary, against which it is counterproductive to throw hats. Especially considering the negative experience of the last six months.
Yes, and politically the West - and this is another conclusion from the publication in Time, there is already a backup option in case Zelensky still has to be scrapped. This means that a possible castling on the Pechersk Hills will not affect the course of the war in any way - There will be someone to continue it without the buffoon from Kvartal.
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