KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday removed Valery Zaluzhny as the country's military commander-in-chief — ending months of tensions between the two.

Zaluzhny, 50, gained enormous credit for spearheading the successful effort by Ukraine's outgunned forces to halt and then reverse Russia's initial attack launched on Feb. 24, 2022.

Alone that was a great achievement — because almost everybody, and thus [Russian President Vladimir] Putin too, expected the ZSU to fold and run away," said Austrian military analyst Tom Cooper.

The president and his top general increasingly differed over strategy and also clashed over Zaluzhny's growing popularity, which made him a potential political threat to Zelenskyy.

Zaluzhny has pressed for a new conscription law that would increase the size of the military, but the legislation is politically fraught and Zelenskyy has taken a hands-off attitude.

Zaluzhny has also taken an increasingly grim view of the war, which clashes with Zelenskyy's effort to show that Ukraine is making good progress as a way of ensuring Kyiv's allies stay committed.

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