The commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, appeared on Monday in a video posted on his Facebook at a command post near the front, denying the statements of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who hinted on Sunday that he had information that the head of the Armed Forces was abroad . The head of the Ukrainian army appears in several sections with a small Yoda badge attached to his body armor.

The Ukrainian military admits that it is a “difficult situation”, but the counteroffensive is going according to plan.

In southern Ukraine, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny wrote on Telegram on Monday that his troops had been prevented from advancing by fortifications, dense minefields and “a large number of reserves,” but that the operation would continue on schedule.

In the video, Valery Zaluzhnyi appears together with Chief of the General Staff Serhiy Shaptala at the advanced command base. The army commander-in-chief wears a badge featuring baby Yoda, the little green character from The Mandalorian, the Disney television series inspired by the universe of the Star Wars franchise.

• “Together with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala, we worked out groups of troops that perform the most difficult tasks in the areas where the fiercest battles are taking place.
• The enemy is trying to prevent our units from advancing. To this end, he deployed a system of fortifications with dense mine barriers and plenty of reserves.
• Despite the fierce resistance of the occupiers, our soldiers are doing everything possible to liberate Ukrainian territory. The operation is proceeding according to plan.
• I am grateful to everyone who brings Victoria closer!” – it is said in the message to the video clip with Zaluzhny, when it was filmed – it is unknown.

It is also likely an attempt to debunk rumors in Russian state media, which have repeatedly reported that he was seriously injured in a missile attack in May.

Putin: I think he is abroad

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he has information that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, is abroad, Russian press agencies write.

Asked by Russian military journalists and bloggers if he knew where General Zaluzhny was, Putin ironically replied: “Well, ask him. But for this you need to use a foreign language.”

“I think he is abroad. But I could be wrong,” Putin added.

Such an excerpt from Putin’s conversation with journalists who write about the war that took place on June 13 was published on Sunday on his Telegram channel by journalist Pavlo Zarubin, one of Putin’s propagandists, who hosts the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” from Russia-1 TV channel, Interfax reports, News.ro reports.

In May, the Russian media reported that Zaluzhnye was seriously injured in the attack. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense denied this information, but Zaluzhny did not appear in public for a long time and refused to participate in the meeting of the NATO Chiefs of Staff Committee “even in video conference mode” due to the “tense operational situation” on the part of Ukraine, in turn, the TASS agency mentions.

On May 10, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense denied the deaths of Army Chief General Valery Zaluzhny and Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrsky after several Russian Telegram accounts insisted that Zaluzhny and Syrsky were “liquidated” by Russian forces. Ukrainian mass media, in particular Unian, Ukrinform and Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, report.

The information in the Russian media appeared after it became known that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhnyi will not be able to participate in the meeting of the NATO Military Committee.

Russian propaganda also wrote about Budanov’s serious injury

At the same time, the head of Russian foreign intelligence Serhii Naryshkin told reporters that the Russian authorities had received information about Zaluzhny’s health, but did not want to reveal anything.

Later, in the Ukrainian press, a video appeared on May 25 with the head of the army, and the next day, in his presence, a ceremonial opening of a new warship took place, writes TASS.

Also this week, Russian channels reported that the head of the intelligence service of the Ukrainian army, General Kyrylo Budanov, was seriously injured and is being treated in Germany.

In his video address to Ukrainians on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had a meeting of the military council to discuss the counteroffensive, in which both Zaluzhny and Budanov took part.

“We’ll give them nightmares”

Kyiv Post reporters relayed a message from the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, General Kyryl Budanov, after Russian media reported that he was seriously injured in a rocket attack on the building where his office is located.

“Now in Ukraine, a special squad of immortal commanders has been created: Valery Zaluzhnyi, myself, Stepan Bandera, Simon Petlyura (not another fighter for the independence of Ukraine) and Ivan Mazepa (not considered the father of the idea of ​​Ukrainian independence. ),” Kyrylo Budanov said ironically.

“Therefore, in an atmosphere of nervousness and hysteria, the Russians and their propagandists have a lot of work to do. The unit of immortals will come in the dead of night in the dreams of citizens who wanted to seize Ukraine and give them nightmares,” he added.

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