Adviser explains why former commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces almost never spoke to media

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, almost never gave interviews or held press conferences because he did not have time for it, due to state secrets and "jealousy" from the Office of the President (OP).

Source: Liudmyla Dolhonovska, former strategic communications adviser to Zaluzhnyi, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "He was rather indifferent to this [media activity – ed.]. When I brought him media monitoring and citations at the beginning [of my cooperation with Zaluzhnyi], he did not even look at them. He never asked how his posts were received or about the comments spreading through the media.

There was no ban [on interviews and press conferences – ed.] from the OP. I don't even know where such assumptions came from. But there was some jealousy, measuring ratings and popularity. And this was indeed a factor why Valerii Zaluzhnyi did not really want media attention too much."

Details: Dolhonovska said that another reason why Zaluzhnyi did not give interviews or press conferences was that he would not be able to answer most of the journalists' questions publicly due to restrictions imposed by state secrets.

At the same time, Dolhonovska emphasised that Zaluzhnyi constantly communicated with journalists in an off-the-record format, during which he "answered questions very clearly and openly".

Background:

• Valerii Zaluzhnyi was the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 27 July 2021 to 8 February 2024.
• He gave only a few interviews during the full-scale invasion, with only one for the Ukrainian media, and one briefing on mobilisation.

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