ISTANBUL

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday appointed Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the country’s former commander-in-chief, as Kyiv’s ambassador to the UK.

Zaluzhnyi’s appointment, which was announced in a decree issued by the Ukrainian president, comes a day after Zelenskyy removed him from military service “on health grounds with the right to wear a military uniform.”

In March, Zelenskyy named Zaluzhnyi as Kyiv’s ambassador to the UK, saying in an address that the former commander-in-chief told him that “this is the direction he would like to take – diplomacy.”

Zaluzhnyi was dismissed as commander-in-chief on Feb. 9 after Zelenskyy declared the need for a “reset” in the country’s leadership. He took over the post in July 2021, before Russia's "special military operation" in Feb. 2022.​​​​​​