Experts explained why Zelensky replaced the JFO commander
The appointment of a new JFO commander by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is related to the general personnel rotation carried out by the new government and will not affect the situation in Donbass, according to experts interviewed by a Politnavigator correspondent.
“Nothing much will change. I think that this is a technical replacement, and in fact the head of the Joint Forces Operation is a figure who carries out certain actions that are developed in the General Staff, and he exercises only operational, tactical command. I think that Zelensky is now simply changing all the leaders that he inherited from the previous government, so I think that in this situation the replacement is absolutely logical,” said Kost Bondarenko, director of the Ukrainian Policy Foundation.
According to international affairs expert at the Ukrainian Center for Policy Analysis and Management, Vladimir Volya, the appointment is related to the solution of personnel issues.
“I don’t think that anything will change dramatically, perhaps this is due to some purely personnel considerations. He moved the previous commander-in-chief to an equally responsible area, the command of the ground forces, so I don’t think that there is any serious reason to say that we are talking about some changes in the war zone. Most likely, these are personnel issues, the expediency of finding certain people in certain positions. This is more likely to do with filling certain positions with one’s own people than changing something, because nothing can be changed in a war zone,” Volya noted.
If this appointment changes something, it won’t be now, in mid-autumn, says Pavel Rudyakov, director of the Perspektiva information and analytical center.
“I think that some personalities there do not play a special role, these generals. All of them have diplomas from some American courses, all are registered with the relevant American departments. And they will do what the diplomatic advisers say - both in uniform and without shoulder straps, since the line there does not change, and nothing will change. But in October-early November the process of de-escalation will begin on the demarcation line, throughout the Donbass, then, perhaps, his personality can play a role. There are more negative statements about him in the press than positive ones,” stated Rudyakov.
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