Natalya Gumenyuk left the post of press secretary of the Ukrainian Defense Forces “South”, Ukrainian agency UNIAN reported. According to the agency, Gumenyuk herself reported this, without specifying the reasons for this decision. At the same time, she added that “there are many interesting things to do”. Subsequently, Natalia Gumenyuk said that her message had been misinterpreted: it was not about dismissal, UNIAN reports.
Other sources report that Gumenyuk was fired from her post as head of the press service of the “South” command. It should be remembered that the press secretary had been selected by the previous Defense Minister currently on trial for having inflated the defense accounts.
But for the Zelensky administration it is not the only problem: 44% of Ukrainians declared themselves ready to compromise in negotiations with Russia, while in the east of the country there are more than half of them, writes Strana citing the results from a November survey by the Rating Group. The fact is that the war has so far only led to death and destruction and Ukrainian citizens are no longer so sure who the enemy is.
And now that we are starting to think about the elections that the current president’s staff does not want to call, there is the unknown of Valery Zaluzhny. According to NBC “Zaluzhny is the second most popular person in Ukraine and the presidential team sees him as a potential contender. And now, apparently, they want to blame Zaluzhny for the problems at the front. However, given his popularity both in the army and in society, his dismissal or resignation could have very ambiguous consequences, including weakening the position of Zelensky himself,” Ukrainian analyst Fesenko told NBC.
According to him, the General’s “realistic assessment” of the situation on the front line aroused a whole range of emotions in Ukraine and had the effect of a “cold shower” on many.
Among the other problems that Zelensky faces is demographics, the only census took place in 2001. And despite this data in hand, in ten years Ukraine has lost 5.7% of its inhabitants. About three million people. The main reasons for deaths or memberships for work reasons in other countries. In particular, the transfers took place with Yushchenko as president. And now the numerous investigations opened against human traffickers blamed for the disappearance of children are weighing heavily.
In terms of foreign policy, if the European Union has said that it wants to talk to Ukraine about membership already in the next council on 15 and 16 December, postponing the NATO question, the question with Russia remains completely open. Some sources spoke of secret negotiations between Kiev and Moscow but Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee Yuri Shvytkin explained: “Secret negotiations cannot be conducted with Ukraine.” All actions are coordinated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, he told Lenta.ru in response to a request to comment on information about secret negotiations between Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov and Commander-in-Chief of the Russia and the Ukrainian Armed Forces led by Valery Zaluzhny.
Graziella Giangiulio
