Ukraine’s ‘Iron General’ Made Ukraine the Fighting Force it is Today
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is everything that Russia is not — and yet, he respects and idolizes General Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian Armed Forces.
Valerii Fedorovych Zaluzhnyi, age 49, has everything you want in a battlefield commander: Common sense, professionally educated, optimistic, loyal, trust in subordinates, and the ability to adapt quickly to an ever-changing theater of war.
Zaluzhnyi was born in a village called Novohrad-Volyns’kyi, in a then-Soviet military garrison because his father was stationed there.
As a teenager, he would witness the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence. It must have been a euphoric time for a young man about to enter the world.
He considered a career as a comedian but chose instead to follow in his father’s footsteps by entering the Odesa Institute of Land Forces.
Zaluzhny is smart
This first taste of professional military education would become a recurring theme for Zaluzhnyi.
His passion for lifelong learning would see him graduate with honors from the National Academy of Defense of Ukraine, the Ivan Cherniakhovskyi National Defense University of Ukraine, and as recently…
