President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears to be preparing the public for the expected resignation of Ukrainian army chief Valery Zaluzhny, insisting in a video speech Monday night that the country needs “strength, fresh energy and leadership” as Ukraine must win the war by the end of the year at the latest.

Zelenskyi told his compatriots that on Monday morning he discussed with Prime Minister Denys Shmigal “the consolidation of the policy of heroes – the policy of veterans”, about “steps that will overcome the existing problems in this area and increase confidence in people”, a probable reference to the need to warn the forces , who have been fighting at the front for two years, News.ro reports.

The new mobilization to replace the missing forces in the Ukrainian army is one of the main points of disagreement between Zelenskyi and the commander-in-chief of the army, General Zaluzhny. Although the general asked for 450,000 to 500,000 men, Zelenskyi hesitated because the population was increasingly reluctant and insisted on a more effective mobilization.

In his video speech on Monday evening, Zelenskyi said that he spoke with the prime minister about “restarting steps – and not only – in this area” of veteran policy.

“With all due respect to the minister, this is simply a matter of management. Ukraine needs strength, fresh energy and adequate leadership in every sphere,” Zelenskyy said after similar remarks on Sunday in an interview with Italian RAI television, when he was asked about replacing Zaluzhny. “A reboot is needed, I mean the replacement of a number of state leaders, not only in the military sphere. I am thinking about this replacement. This is a question for the entire leadership of the country,” Zelenskyy said on RAI’s broadcast.

On Monday, Zelenskyi also told Ukrainians that they must win the war no later than the end of the year. “We must win this war. And we must do our best this year, even more than is possible,” Zelenskyi said.

On Monday, the Ukrainian leader was again in the territory of the Dnipro, Kirovohrad and Cherkasy regions in the center of the country, located on the Dnieper, not far from the war zone. “In general, the main issues are the strengthening of radio-electronic warfare, means of radio-electronic warfare and the strengthening of our air defense. Today I gave several important orders in this regard,” he said.

In Kropyvnytskyi, Zelenskyi said that he organized a security meeting. “I instructed the head of the Ukrainian government to organize a separate meeting for the Kirovohrad region – on all issues. This includes ensuring a high-quality and stable water supply, the operation of uranium mines and the protection of workers. The report must be submitted within a week. I am grateful to everyone who in Kropyvnytskyi and the region provides assistance in the construction of fortifications in the front-line zone, including in Zaporizhzhia. We also discussed the economy: the state should support the recovery of Ukrainian production,” Zelenskyi said.

In Cherkasy, Zelenskyi said that he attended the regional meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, which was attended by the First Vice Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture, and the discussions were mainly economic.

“Our sea corridor is working, and we have already exported more than 20 million tons of goods by sea,” Zelenskyi said.

“We have protected energy, and this year the winter and the heating season are much more stable than last year. We also have agreements with our partners regarding long-term support for Ukraine and financial programs that add confidence to our country,” the president said.

“Transparent, clean and legal relations between state institutions and the business environment are needed, and the business environment needs to work in a clean and legal environment – in a “white” way, and to save and create as many jobs as possible. The stability of our economy and the social stability of Ukraine are elements of our national stability in the war,” Zelenskyi said, bringing up another sensitive topic in Ukraine – big corruption and relations with the private economic environment.

“I am grateful to everyone who works for the survival of Ukraine. I am grateful to every entrepreneur, every developer, to all our people who have created a new industry in Ukraine, especially the drone industry, and who are creating a new powerful Ukrainian electronic warfare system, to all our IT people who have become defenders. The government will support this activity as much as possible,” Zelenskyi said in his address to the business community.

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