Zaluzhnyi celebrates 50th birthday! 20 facts from life of Iron General

Who is Valerii Zaluzhnyi? Here are twenty facts from his biography. 

Fact 1. He dreamed of being a soldier

Valerii Zaluzhnyi was born in a family of military personnel in the city of Zviahel (formerly Novohrad-Volynskyi - ed.). Little Valerii spent his childhood in a garrison among other soldiers. The Iron General's parents could have chosen a prestigious Russian-language school. However, Valerii went to the first grade at the school that was closer to home, where children of railway workers and machine-building plant workers studied.

At the first lesson, when the first teacher asked Valerii what he wanted to become, the boy confidently said: "I will become a soldier. I will defend our country."

Fact 2. His mom is from Chernihiv 

Valerii Zaluzhnyi's pages contain many civilian photos from Chernihiv. There is also a family selfie with his wife Olena on the bridge.

Prior to his appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Zaluzhnyi was the head of the Joint Forces Command North for a year and a half, so he spent a lot of time in Chernihiv.

However, it is not only work that connects Zaluzhnyi with the ancient city. His mother is from the Chernihiv region. He spent a lot of time there in his childhood and youth. As Zaluzhnyi himself said: "All our family lives in Chernihiv. Despite the fact that I was born in Novohrad-Volynskyi, I believe that Chernihiv is my homeland."

In an interview with ArmyInform, Valerii Zaluzhnyi also admitted that in his youth he dreamed of living on the Desna River for some time.

On the anniversary of the liberation of the Chernihiv region from Russian occupation, the Commander-in-Chief wrote a personal thank you to every defender who liberated his native land.

Fact 3. He is a Ukrainian military leader without a Soviet education

Valerii Zaluzhnyi is a new type of military leader who has not studied at any Russian or Soviet military school. He is completely Ukrainian.

In 1989, he entered the Zviahel Mechanical Engineering College. He graduated in 1993 with honors, and then entered the Combined Arms Faculty of the Odesa Institute of the Land Forces. He also received his officer's degree with honors. Ten years later, he received his second higher military education at the National Defense Academy. He also received a gold medal for studying the combat use of mechanized and tank formations.

In 2014, he graduated from the Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defense University of Ukraine, where he also became the best student and was awarded the British Transitional Sword.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces also has a civilian diploma. In 2020, he received a master's degree in international relations from the Ostroh Academy.

Fact 4. He is a professional

Valerii Zaluzhnyi has gone through all the stages of his military career. After graduating from the Institute in Odesa, Zaluzhnyi was a platoon commander, training platoon commander, combat platoon commander, training company commander, cadet company commander, and battalion commander. In 2007, he was appointed first deputy commander of the 24th Detached Mechanized Brigade in Yavoriv, Lviv region. He successfully served in this position for two and a half years. In 2009, he was appointed commander of the 51st Detached Mechanized Brigade, which he commanded until 2012. He was promoted to the rank of Major General on August 23, 2017.

Fact 5. He adores his wife Olena

Zaluzhnyi has been happily married to Olena, a financier at Ukrgasbank. The couple has two daughters. The general considers his wife to be his closest person and true soul mate. The couple has been married for over 20 years. But despite this, the formidable military man still writes romantic posts for his wife on Facebook.

Fact 6. Shaptala is his best friend

Chief of the General Staff Serhiy Shaptala is Valerii Zaluzhnyi's best friend. "We have been friends almost all our lives. We have gone through our military paths with dignity, reaching their peaks, and, most importantly, we have remained human. The war has united us, emphasized our essence. Serhiy's courage, prudence and humanity were evident from the first days of the Russian invasion in 2014," Zaluzhnyi heartily congratulated his friend and colleague on his 50th birthday in February this year.

Shaptala and Zaluzhnyi were key people in planning the offensives and key battles.

On the eve of his anniversary, the Commander-in-Chief posted a very interesting video of a trip with Serhiy Shaptala to the southern frontline. The coolness of this video of two top generals making key decisions is simply off the charts. It is noteworthy that one of the frames shows the date - "July 6, 2023", which means that this video is hot as pies from the oven. 

Fact 7. The cover of Time magazine

The whole world admires the military genius of the Ukrainian general - on September 26, 2022, the influential Time magazine put a portrait of the chief Ukrainian military officer on the cover. And it emphasized that the Ukrainian army would hardly have achieved such success without its commander. They signed it simply and with the taste "General".

Thus, Zaluzhnyi became the first Ukrainian military man to be featured on the cover of a prestigious publication. He also became on par with his idols - Montgomery, Bradley, Abrams and Patton.

Fact 8. Politico called him the "Iron General"

This nickname was given to Zaluzhnyi by a leading American publication in April 2022 after the brilliant defeat of the occupying Russian troops in the Kyiv region. At the time, the media outlet ran an analytical piece saying that "the commander will become a legendary figure in the history of Ukraine. After all, the success of the Ukrainian army surprised the whole world."

"The general is the personification of a new generation of Ukrainian officers, which was formed during the 8-year war in Donbas and during exercises with NATO. The Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to change the authoritarian nature that was shaped by Soviet military training," the American media emphasized.

Fact 9. He cried when he had to tell a mother about the death of her pilot son

During the war with Russia, Valerii Zaluzhnyi cried only once, when he informed the mother of a helicopter pilot who was flying to the blockaded Mariupol that her son had died. He told this in an interview with TV presenter Dmytro Komarov.

"Being the commander-in-chief, I don't want to admit to any weaknesses. But again, I repeat: I am a human being. Once I cried when a mother was looking for her son. He was a helicopter pilot and was flying to Mariupol," the "Iron General" said in the movie The Year.

According to him, at the time of the conversation with the woman, he hoped that her son was alive. The pilot's mother sent Zaluzhnyi the last message from her son, in which the soldier asked her to tell about him if he died.

However, later it emerged that the pilot was killed by the Russian forces and the general had to tell the mother of the loss. "When I tried to discuss this with her, I did not have the strength," the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces admitted.

Fact 10. He was sure that Russia's invasion was inevitable

In the summer of 2021, Zaluzhnyi was introduced as Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. That is, when the threat of a full-scale Russian offensive had already begun to grow. Here is what Zaluzhnyi said in September about this: "The threat of full-scale aggression exists, has existed and will continue to exist. Our task as the Armed Forces is not to wait for manna from heaven, we have to prepare for it. And we are doing everything for this."

Fact 11. He did not agree to blow up bridges in Kyiv

A BBC report in June 2023 described the mood among the political elite during the first phase of the major invasion. While the Presidential Office publicly urged Ukrainians not to panic, the government began actively discussing the idea of blowing up all the bridges in Kyiv, which would have delayed the Russians in front of the Dnipro River and prevented them from reaching the government quarter.

According to journalists, at that time, a high-ranking government official called the then head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Ivan Bakanov, and demanded that he order a special unit to blow up the bridges across the Dnipro. Bakanov then called Zaluzhnyi, but he refused to take such a step.

"Blow up the bridges? No way! It would be a betrayal of those who remained on the left bank of the Dnipro, both military and civilians," the Commander-in-Chief said at the time. That's how Kyiv residents were left with the bridges connecting the right bank to the left.

Fact 12. The patch Baby Yoda

In June 2023, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a video of his work on military maps online. Eagle-eyed Ukrainians noticed an unusual patch on his uniform - a Little Yoda.

This patch inspired many to create and debate. Many users noted that it was not Baby Yoda, but Grog. Anyway, everyone noticed the analogy with Star Wars and the Jedi.

Fact 13. Zaluzhnyi loves children

In his early interviews, Valerii Fedorovych said that he loves to communicate with children. That's why every photo of him with a Ukrainian child goes viral. In early June, a soldier of the 72nd Brigade, Polina Kravchenko, came to see the general to introduce him to her daughter Solomia. The five-month-old immediately fell asleep in the general's arms.

And every Ukrainian imagined himself in the baby's shoes.

Zaluzhnyi also spoke very radically about the occupiers:

"We will kill them all! Our children will know them, unfortunately, not from fairy tales as an absolute evil that must be fought," he emphasized.

Fact 14. Zaluzhnyi is for joining NATO

Zaluzhnyi has been a consistent advocate of the idea that reforms in the army should come from the top: "The general course of reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine in accordance with NATO principles and standards remains irreversible. And the key here is the principles. Changes must take place first and foremost in the outlook and attitude towards people. I would like you to turn around and face the people, your subordinates. My attitude towards people has not changed throughout my career."

Fact 15: He dreams of driving a tank along the Arbat

In Yanina Sokolova's Rendezvous program on Channel 5, when asked by a viewer if he would like to drive a tank through Red Square, he joked: "I guess so. To be honest, and along the Arbat too. But carefully, because it's a monument." Later, he clarified that his biggest dream is to liberate all the lands captured by the enemy, including the occupied Crimea.

Fact 16. He hates corrupt officials

In October 2021, the Commander-in-Chief asked to personally report corruption in the Armed Forces to him - to write in personal messages on his Facebook page, and also published his phone number and email.

"I categorically reject corruption and will not tolerate any manifestations of it in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Zero tolerance for corruption is the prerequisite for appointing a person to a position," he said publicly.

Fact 17: He loves hiking

The general has a hobby of hiking and walking around Ukraine. This is how he talked about it in an interview: "I still have a passion for traveling, usually on foot, from my pioneer days: I put on a tracksuit and go to explore the city." Zaluzhnyi is always accompanied on these trips by his wife Olena.

Fact 18. He did not want a book about himself 

Former advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Liudmyla Dolhonovska, is writing a book about him. The collection will include her observations of the Commander-in-Chief during the great war. Zaluzhnyi agreed to the book's publication after lengthy discussions. "At first he said: 'If you have nothing to do, better get some sleep.' But then: 'Okay, write'” Dolhonovska said in an interview with Novynarnia. 

Fact 19: He believes that Russia should fear Ukraine like fire

Zaluzhnyi's plan for victory is as follows: "Our victory is definitely the liberation of the entire occupied territory of Ukraine. The entire territory must be liberated. But this is not enough. Ukraine as a state must do everything to ensure that everything that began on February 24, 2022, never happens again."

However, according to Zaluzhnyi, it is necessary to create conditions under which Russia will never have the opportunity to repeat its aggression.

Therefore, the main bet should be on a powerful, large and modern army.

"World history knows states that live and show that it is better not to mess with them. Ukraine should become such a state," Zaluzhnyi said in an interview with Dmytro Komarov.

Fact 20. The Commander-in-Chief's hobbies

In his spare time, Zaluzhnyi enjoys disco and Rammstein music, as well as cats on Instagram.