Valerijs Zalužnijs, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, has come forward with alarming details regarding an incident where the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) attempted to conduct a raid in his office while he was serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. In an interview published this Wednesday, Zalužnijs described a particularly tense meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky around mid-September 2022, after which SBU agents showed up at his office trying to gain access to sensitive materials. Zalužnijs stated that he was unaware of the purpose behind the raid and denied the SBU personnel access to his computers and documents, perceiving their presence as a direct threat.

Zalužnijs recounted that upon encountering the SBU personnel, he contacted Andrej Jermak, who was the head of the presidential office at that time, indicating that he was prepared to defend his office from what he regarded as an attack. He expressed a strong readiness to deploy military forces to protect his workspace, asserting, "I can fend off this attack because I know how to fight." He was eager to demonstrate that he would resist any intrusion and was not intimidated by the authority of the SBU.

This revelation sheds light on the significant tensions within the Ukrainian government during a critical period of conflict, emphasizing the discord not only in military strategies but also in the relations between key military and political figures as the nation faced external pressures from the ongoing war. Zalužnijs' account highlights the complexities of Ukraine's internal dynamics, particularly the challenges faced by military leaders operating under political oversight.