All right. Tonight, we have more breaking news
A stunning move
from the Ukrainian president, Zelensky
After firing his top general,
the man who has commanded the war
against Putin
presence, Olinsky
then did a seemingly total about face
calling General Valerie
loosely, his quote, commander in chief
Today,
the two coming face to face
for a war cabinet meeting.
Now, Zelensky was expected
to announce Toulouse's replacement
Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT.
Since Moscow's forces invaded
Ukraine almost two years ago,
General Valerio
Oluyemi has been the man
behind the military effort
to push the Russians back.
A successful effort, but one req
great sacrifices in Ukrainian bl
that delusionally respected comm
close to his troops
no matter what he will do.
The path to our victory is very
he said at a military funeral.
And the price for this victory
is the lives of our warriors,
the best citizens of Ukraine
who have stood
in the defense of the country
with weapons in their hands.
But after
Ukraine's
large scale counter
offensive failed last year,
Kiev's forces
making little headway
while suffering major losses.
Relations between the illusionar
and Ukraine's president,
Vladimir Zelensky, appear to fra
Zelensky seemingly critical of h
general strategy.
Robert Schumann That's the quest
I have working relations
with the Luciani.
He has to answer
for results on the battlefield
as commander in chief.
Together with the general staff,
Zelinsky said there are many que
Zulus need remains extremely pop
A December
Ukrainian poll
finding nearly 90%
supported him,
compared to around 60 for Zelens
Another point of contention
between the two.
Further mobilization of soldiers
to beef up the armed forces,
but also to give troops
fighting on the front lines for
A breather.
Solution is saying it's
going to slow
because of serious street
threatening central conflict
along the tour.
As for the local mobilization
officers, as of now,
frankly speaking,
I am not satisfied
with the work
of the mobilization officers.
If I were satisfied with their w
we would not discuss this bill r
But Zelensky is critical
of further mobilization
and unpopular measure
for many Ukrainians.
Yes, we saw that.
And what everyone.
Take everyone away
because they don't have money?
This man asks.
That really smells like slavery.
Then we will do.
As harsh as it may sound,
in my opinion, it's necessary,
this man says,
Because it's really a matter whe
It seems to me there is no choic
Outmanned and outgunned,
Ukraine's army is struggling
to hold the Russians up
while the president's relations
with his top generals seem damag
Possibly beyond repair. With new
And, Fred, you know, and
it is incredible
what we're seeing here
and just raises so many question
about what is really happening.
I mean, what more are you learning about
this firing?
I mean, it was supposedly soldie
He was fired.
I mean, everybody knew it was fi
And then we were just
waiting for a formal decree.
So what happened with that?
Yeah, that's a big question
everyone is asking here in Kiev.
And one of the things
that we can also see,
Erin, is that all of political K
really is in a holding pattern w
Whether or not
this decree is going to come
and certainly the indications
that we were getting is that a d
would come by the end of this we
Well, now it's around 2:30 a.m.
in the morning on Saturday,
and still there is no decree.
So right now it's absolutely unc
how much longer Valeri solution
he might be in office
if indeed he is still in office.
And what in general,
his fate is going to be as the c
of Ukraine's armed forces, Aaron
I mean,
like even today
we see this happen,
that there's a cabinet meeting
and maybe we're going to find ou
who's going to take the place of
And instead, Zelensky walks in a
to the as his commander in chief
Is there any possibility
that with all this firing, that
that he may not actually he may
There is there is
always that possibility.
And right now it's absolutely un
what velocity may have,
but a lot more Slutsky is going
The main thing
that people are talking about he
is possibly the big question is
does Zelensky have a successor
lined up a possible one,
four four resolution?
And of course, we have been talk
the fact that there were two people
who seem to be in the running
to be the successor.
One of them, Kirill of Sudan,
of the head of military intellig
one of them head of the land
forces, Alexander Searcy.
But again, at this point
in time, it's not clear
whether it's going to be any one
or whether or not
he has indeed changed his mind.
We simply don't know
at this point in time.
Certainly right now.
We'll see what happens on the we
and whether a decree might yet
come Aaron.
That's just an absolutely
incredible moment.
Fred Pleitgen is in Kiev
and we are so grateful
for that to have eyes and ears
on the ground there.