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“Former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Implicated in Corruption Scandal”: Fake News from ‘Minskaya Pravda’ Exposed
The official reason for his dismissal was the need for a military strategy reset.
Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi is allegedly involved in corruption scandals, as claimed by Marina Subbota, the host of the Belarusian state-run media outlet ‘Minskaya Pravda’. The Weekly Top Fake team investigated which scandals are being referenced and whether Zaluzhnyi is linked to them.
On October 25, 2024, Marina Subbota, the host of the 'Minskaya Pravda' YouTube channel, made accusations of corruption involvement against former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.
“The former head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who remains linked to corruption scandals that would make even the former deputy defense minister of Russia envious, was dismissed and sent to a well-deserved retirement in Great Britain. Zaluzhnyi is officially Kyiv's ambassador to London. This fact directly addresses whose interests he represented on the Ukrainian-Russian front,” the host stated.
The corruption scandal Subbota referenced unfolded in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense in late summer and early autumn of 2023. Current Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported in January 2024 that at least 10 billion hryvnias (approximately $270 million) in embezzlement had been discovered. Former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov lost his post amid this scandal.
However, Zaluzhnyi's responsibilities at that time were centered on the front-line situation.
There is no publicly available information or accusations of corruption against Zaluzhnyi. He is not mentioned in the context of these corruption scandals. The official reason for his dismissal was the need for a military strategy reset. Unofficially, it has been attributed to disagreements between him and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
First closures of the border crossings between the two countries happened in March 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic, prior to the presidential elections.
