Maryana Bezugla's statement highlighted the tension in the conflict between the Office of the President and the commander in chief.
The confrontation between Bankova and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny seems to be reaching a new level. Rumors about the conflict had been circulating for a long time, but they became public only in early November after Zaluzhny’s article in The Economist magazine . Then, pro-government people’s deputies began to spread information about the need to fire the commander in chief. It was even reported that an order from the Minister of Defense to dismiss Zaluzhny was already ready. However, after the wave in the media and social networks in defense of the general, attacks on him by the authorities seemed to have subsided. But yesterday’s post by the people’s deputy from “Servant of the People” Maryana Bezugla , in which she again called for Zaluzhny to be dismissed, again agitated Ukrainian society. “Apostrophe” figured out why the authorities needed this and how this scandal could affect the situation in Ukraine.
Bezuglya needs a plan
Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, representing the Servant of the People faction, Maryana Bezuglaya again called for the resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhny. She published on her Facebook page.
Bezugla’s criticism boiled down to the fact that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to her, did not provide the deputies with a “victory plan” and at the same time proposed to strengthen mobilization. “The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was unable to provide a plan for 2024. Neither big, nor small, nor asymmetrical. The military simply said that they need to take away at least 20 thousand citizens a month...”, the people’s deputy wrote. Bezuglaya claims that without plans for the year and proposals for “changes to the Armed Forces of Ukraine” system, the military leadership “must leave.”
At the same time, Bezuglaya said that back in the summer, at meetings of the Headquarters, as well as in parliament when planning the budget for 2024, Zaluzhny did not answer a number of questions.
“How do you see the war? Why create a brigade, and not supplement the existing ones? How much will the brigade, the new brigade, cost? Are these new headquarters associated with combat units? Or set aside funds for rotation and demobilization? What about your studies? What about rotations? Why is there no provision for the purchase of turnstiles in general in 2024, for example? Do you understand that one dead person costs the state 15 million UAH, and a SAT-type turnstile costs 10 thousand times less? Besides the tragedy of death as such,” Bezuglaya wrote.
In her opinion, if the military leadership does not have a plan for 2024, and “all their proposals for mobilization boil down to the fact that more people are needed without any proposal for changes to the Armed Forces of Ukraine system, then such leadership must leave .
There's something wrong with her
After this post, many comments criticizing the people’s deputy herself appeared on Maryana Bezugla’s page. It is also significant that experts, politicians, political scientists and journalists spoke out en masse on this topic. The essence of all comments boils down to one thesis: “Hands off Zaluzhny!”
In particular, the deputy commander of the 3rd separate assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Maxim Zhorin, said that some deputies wear uniforms or military uniforms, although they do not and have never had anything to do with the army, moreover, they disgrace the entire country with their actions. “Or they discuss events at the front, military decisions, and come up with some idiotic initiatives. It would be much better for everyone if stupid, incompetent and inadequate people did not stick their noses into the affairs of mobilization, war and the military,” noted Zhorin.
“To be honest, I am surprised that representatives of our military-political leadership (and Madame Bezugla, after all, is the deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense) confuse the Strategic Plan for the use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other components of the Ukrainian defense forces with the Defense Plan of Ukraine, ” Konstantin Mashovets, coordinator of the “Information Resistance” group, wrote on Facebook, “Moreover, they are not even familiar with the STRUCTURE and PRINCIPLES of defense planning in our state.”
“If Madame Bezuglou is interested in the question “how it is planned to use the Armed Forces of Ukraine” (namely, this falls within the competence of General Zaluzhny), instead of, in accordance with her status as a people’s deputy and deputy chairman of the relevant committee of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, being interested in the defense plan of Ukraine in the part that concerns it, so much so that she is ready to “send the Commander-in-Chief to resign”... this makes me think that there is clearly “something wrong” with her...”, emphasizes Mashovets.
It is interesting that even her colleague in the presidential faction, the presidential representative in parliament Fyodor Venislavsky, criticized Bezuglaya.
“In war conditions, this can have extremely negative consequences. Moreover, taking into account the sensitive issues for the defense and security of the state that are considered by the committee... I believe that such behavior of Ms. Bezugla is unacceptable and her presence on the committee may constitute a real threat to national security, given this model of behavior , said .
This has happened to her before
As you know, this is not the first time that the People’s Deputy has gotten into scandals. Military serviceman and social activist Oleg Simoroz recalled this
“Recall that in May 2022, Bezuglaya initiated a bill that proposed actually allowing commanders to kill military personnel. In the summer of 2022, the military reported an absolutely wild situation with Bezugla and her attempts to lead the military in the combat zone she visited, for this she used the mandate of the deputy of the parliamentary defense committee. In 2021, Bezuglaya headed the temporary investigative commission of the Verkhovna Rada, which investigated the case of the “Wagnerites” about the disruption of a special operation of Ukrainian intelligence to detain militants of the Russian PMC “Wagner”. Bezuglaya successfully leaked this VSK, covering for Ermak,” noted Simoroz.
“Well, Bezuglaya is doing “very well” in the district in the capital Obolon, where she was elected. Well, it’s me who has to send scammer volunteers and titushkas to the Heroes of the Dnieper. And Bezuglaya has more important things to do…” the activist concluded.
Whose torpedo?
“It is clear that Bezuglaya wrote this on purpose. She carries out the instructions of her “superiors” from the Office of the President and not only from there,” noted political scientist Viktor Nebozhenko in a commentary to Apostrophe.
Journalist Yuri Nikolov spoke more harshly about Maryana Bezugla You shouldn’t think that she’s... nuts. She was and is a torpedo. And if sometimes she carries some kind of drug-addicted heresy, it is only to create an image and... butt. So that Zelensky, in the event of an unsuccessful trial, can pretend that he is not responsible for the actions and... ours. For Putin, Zhirinovsky played approximately this role.”
According to Nikolov, with the help of such information attacks, it looks like the information field is being prepared for the demolition of Zaluzhny “with the creation of the image of a butcher.”
The same idea was expressed to “Apostrophe” by political scientist Viktor Nebozhenko.
“The Ukrainian government is now acting in the best Soviet traditions and in the style of Putin, if you like. This technology was created 90 years ago. First, one of the people, and Bezuglaya is a people’s deputy, throws in some proposal, then it is picked up by the media, and then the prosecutor’s office and other law enforcement agencies. Well, in the end, the authorities “at the request of the workers” implement the proposal made,” explains the expert.
“This happened in the USSR, this is what is happening now in Russia, and they decided to test it in the OP,” says Nebozhenko.
According to the political scientist, this approach is dangerous not only for the authorities, but also for Ukraine as a whole.
Many commentators also agree that the people’s deputy is taking part in a planned IPSO that plays into the hands of the aggressor country.
“She is either a “faded spy” or completely incompetent in the matter of defense planning for our state (which in itself, to put it mildly, looks somewhat strange, given her status and the position in the Verkhovna Rada that she holds...). I reject the option with mental disabilities... because Tyrnet contains a certificate regarding her full adequacy in this area,” noted Konstantin Mashovets.
“Such actions on the part of the politician become the basis for rumors about a “split in Ukrainian society” and an alleged conflict between the political elite and the army. These actions are also part of the subversive activities of the Russian Federation in the West with the aim of disrupting the supply of weapons and financial assistance to Ukraine,” noted the InformNapalm community.
And a veteran of the sapper troops of the Armed Forces and political figure Yuri Gudimenko pointed out signs of two serious criminal offenses in Maryana Bezugla’s statement - disclosure of state secrets and a deliberately untrue report about a threat to the safety of citizens - and appealed to the SBU.
What does Zelensky risk?
“ I have no doubt that Bezuglaya wrote her post at the suggestion of people from Bankova, whose names I will not name, they are known. But these people on Bankova do not understand what this means for themselves ,” comments Viktor Nebozhenko. “ I emphasize once again that they are not politicians. Previously there was Arakhamia, now here is Bezuglaya .”
According to the political scientist, Zaluzhny is not flawless, he is a living person and there is something to criticize him for. “But why remove Zaluzhny now, provoking a scandal in society and incredibly increasing his rating?,” asks Nebozhenko, “By removing Zaluzhny, will something change at the front?” I think no. So what's the point?
Political scientist Vladimir Fesenko has the same opinion.
“Will this decision change the situation at the front? It’s unlikely, ” Fesenko notes “The current problems in combat operations with Russian troops are not related to the status of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, but to a huge lack of resources, including fighters at the front. And if Zaluzhny is released and the situation at the front does not improve (which is quite likely), many in Ukraine will say that this is the result of Zaluzhny’s release. It’s also clear who will be blamed.”
According to the expert, this is unlikely to have a positive impact on our solidarity in the fight against an external enemy. Negative consequences may also arise in relation to Ukraine on the part of our international partners.
“For President Zelensky there will be purely political risks. The dismissal of Zaluzhny will automatically make him a center of concentration and unification for everyone who is not only dissatisfied with the actions of the current government, but will also be dissatisfied with the dismissal of Zaluzhny. And there will be many of them. And Zaluzhny himself, who is now focused on military affairs, may, if fired, prove himself in the political sphere. And many will encourage him to do this. If Zaluzhny begins his own political activities and begins to form a political team, then President Zelensky will have a powerful competitor, which he does not have today,” the political scientist noted.
As Fesenko says, Maryana Bezuglaya actually proposes to transfer Zaluzhny from a purely military to a political orbit, and thus create a real political alternative to Zelensky.
According to the political scientist, Bezuglaya has already caused great damage to the presidential team with her provocative statements.
“Paradoxically, what she proposes, in essence, is actions against President Zelensky, and to a certain extent against the interests of Ukraine in war conditions,” the expert concluded.
What to do?
As experts note, Zaluzhny’s resignation will only increase turbulence in Ukraine. But, at the same time, in order to get out of the impasse that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine spoke about, there is no need to strengthen presidential power, which is what the Office of the President is striving for. This idea was expressed by Viktor Nebozhenko.
“We do not need the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, consisting of people from the OP and security forces. We need a military-technical committee, which will include engineers and scientists who have weapons development in their arsenal. They must formulate a strategy,” the political scientist explained.
“On Bankova they want to remove Zaluzhny, but for some reason they don’t want to remove Tatarov,” Nebozhenko summed up.
Bezugluyu - resign
Returning to Maryana Bezugla, it is worth noting that commentators on social networks speak out not only about her dismissal from the Defense Committee, but also about the deprivation of her deputy mandate.
“Maryana Bezuglaya is now working out enemy narratives in the interests of individual politicians and she should be deprived of her mandate and immediately expelled from the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence,” wrote serviceman and activist Oleg Simoroz.
However, so far everything is going to the point that Bezuglaya will be “asked” from the post of deputy head of the security committee. People's Deputy Alexei Kucherenko has already addressed the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.
“I sent an appeal to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Mr. Stefanchuk, with a proposal to immediately recall People’s Deputy M. Bezuglaya from the post of Deputy Chairman of the Committee on National Security and Defense. This is within his powers under the Law on Committees of the Verkhovna Rada,” said People’s Deputy Kucherenko.
