Zelenskiy confirms plan to replace commander of armed forces as part of ‘reset’
Ukrainian president tells Rai News he wants to make major changes in leadership, including firing Valerii Zaluzhnyi

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has admitted publicly for the first time that he is seeking to replace the country’s most senior military commander, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

“A reset, a new beginning is necessary,” Zelenskiy told the Italian outlet Rai News in an interview broadcast on Sunday night, when asked about rumours of Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal.

Zaluzhnyi, who has led the armed forces since before Russia’s full-scale invasion, is a largely popular figure among soldiers and society at large, meaning replacing him could be a politically risky decision.

At a meeting last Monday, Zelenskiy told Zaluzhnyi he planned to replace him, according to those with knowledge of the conversation, and offered the general a chance to resign. But Zaluzhnyi refused to step down. When news of the conversation leaked, Zelenskiy’s press secretary, Serhii Nykyforov, denied it.

“There is no subject of conversation,” he told reporters. “There is no order. The president did not dismiss the commander-in-chief.” The ministry of defence also denied the rumours.

Now, however, Zelenskiy has admitted he is looking to make major changes, suggesting a broader shake-up of Ukraine’s leadership.

“I have something serious in mind, which is not about a single person but the direction of the country’s leadership,” said Zelenskiy. “I mean a replacement of a series of state leaders, not just in a single sector like the military. If we want to win we must all push in the same direction, convinced of victory, we cannot be discouraged, let our arms fall, we must have the right positive energy,” he added.

A British-owned cargo ship has been attacked in the Red Sea this morning, just days after the UK and the US jointly launched a fresh bout of airstrikes targeting Houthis in Yemen.

The ship suffered minor damage after being hit by a projectile while scaling off the coast of Yemen’s Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

The US military, just hours before, conducted a strike in self-defence against two Houthi drones in Yemen after a drone attack hit a base housing US troops in Syria.

“US forces identified the explosive USVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to US navy ships and merchant vessels in the region,” US Central Command said in a post on X.

Earlier, six Kurdish fighters were killed in a drone attack that hit the training ground at al-Omar base in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said.

It accused “Syrian regime-backed mercenaries” of carrying out the attack. No casualties were reported among US troops.

The fast food chain reported its first quarterly sales miss in nearly four years due to weak growth in its international business division.

Its boss previously acknowledged the impact of the conflict, blaming "misinformation".
Shares in McDonald's fell about 4% after the announcement.

McDonalds is one of several Western corporations including Starbucks and Coca Cola that have seen boycotts and protests against them by anti-Israeli campaigners.

The firm said that the Israel-Gaza conflict had "meaningfully impacted" performance in some overseas markets in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In the branch which includes sales in the Middle East, China and India, sales growth stood at 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 - far below market expectations.

Its business in Malaysia, Indonesia and France have been affected, with the biggest impact felt in the Middle East, chief executive Chris Kempczinski said on Monday.

"So long as this war is going on... we're not expecting to see any significant improvement [in these markets]," the McDonald's boss added.

McDonald's relies on a franchise system in which thousands of independent businesses own and operate most of its more than 40,000 stores around the world. About 5% of its outlets are located in the Middle East.