Ukraine's 'Iron General' refutes rumours he is 'quietly preparing to run for president' to replace Zelensky
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi's team were forced to play down the claims stating that 'there is no talk of any campaign headquarters'.
It followed posts by a journalist that 'his HQ is already active in London and recruitment is underway'.
They claimed sources had told them his campaign had 'effectively begun' after Volodymyr Zelensky told Donald Trump that elections may be coming soon.
Zaluzhnyi, known affectionately as the Iron General, would be a front-runner to defeat Mr Zelensky as he is remembered fondly for marshalling the heroic defence of Kyiv in 2022.
He was then replaced by Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief and sidelined as Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK in July last year.
Freelance journalist Katie Livingstone said sources had told her the Ukrainian opposition MP Viktoria Siumar would run any campaign with former BBC Ukraine reporter Oksana Torop handling his press.
Kyiv Post Correspondent Jason Jay Smart said he had confirmed the claims, adding: 'Sources indicate that he gave the go-ahead to his team, over a month ago, to start planning his campaign.'
But Ms Torop last night denied the rumours. She told the New Voice of Ukraine: 'There is no talk of any campaign headquarters.
'Valerii Zaluzhnyi has stated his position more than once, and as far as I know, it has not changed: while the war continues, we need to work to preserve the country, not think about elections.'
Zaluzhnyi is Ukraine's most trusted public figure with recent polling finding 73 per cent of Ukrainians trust him compared with 67 per cent for Zelensky.
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Reuters
11 minutes ago
- Reuters
California lawmakers swiftly pass Democrats' congressional redistricting plan
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Democrats say more than 70% of their newly drawn congressional districts were adopted from maps used by the independent commission in formulating the current boundaries. Republican Senator Tony Strickland objected, saying, "These maps were drawn behind closed doors." Within six hours, however, the two houses of the legislature had approved all three measures, voting along party lines to approve each bill in succession and sending it to the other body for its concurrence. Unlike the California initiative, the newly drawn district lines in Texas would go into effect without voter approval, though Democrats have vowed to challenge the plan in court. The Texas measure cleared a major hurdle on Wednesday when the state House of Representatives in Austin adopted it on an 88-52 party-line vote. The Texas Senate is expected to pass the measure next, possibly on Thursday. The two versions of the bill may then need to be reconciled before the legislation goes to Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has said he will sign it. "Big WIN for the Great State of Texas," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. Democrats and civil rights groups say the new Texas map further dilutes the voting power of Hispanic and Black voters, violating federal law that forbids redrawing political lines on the basis of racial or ethnic discrimination. In pursuing redistricting mid-decade, both sides are breaking with long-observed political custom of generally altering political maps once every 10 years, following the U.S. Census to adjust for population changes. Most Americans believe redrawing congressional lines to maximize political gain, known as gerrymandering, is bad for democracy, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found. 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BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
4chan will refuse to pay daily UK fines, its lawyer tells BBC
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The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lucy Connolly to speak out for first time since being released from prison
Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers online on the day of the Southport murders, is expected to speak out on Friday for the first time since being released from prison. The 42-year-old, wife of Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, left HMP Peterborough on Thursday morning and it is understood she will be doing limited media interviews a day after walking free. She spent time with her husband, daughter and parents on the day of her release and was pictured walking her dogs in the evening, the Daily Mail reported. Ms Connolly was handed a 31-month sentence after she posted on X: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care … if that makes me racist so be it.' She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing 'threatening or abusive' written material on X and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October last year. The former childminder, from Northampton, was ordered to serve 40% of her sentence in prison before being released on licence. It is understood that Ms Connolly was a passenger in a white taxi which left HMP Peterborough via the vehicle airlock, a set of two gates exiting the prison, shortly after 10am on Thursday. Her case has sparked debate, with some criticising her sentence as excessive. Reacting to her release, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Connolly's sentence was 'harsher than the sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting'. In a post on X, Ms Badenoch compared Ms Connolly's case with that of Ricky Jones, a suspended Labour councillor who was found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder at an anti-racism rally in the wake of the Southport murders. Writing on X, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Juries are a cornerstone of justice, but we shouldn't have to rely on them to protect basic freedoms. 'Protecting people from words should not be given greater weight in law than public safety. If the law does this, then the law itself is broken – and it's time Parliament looked again at the Public Order Act.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described Ms Connolly's case as a 'symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain'. A bid to challenge her sentence at the Court of Appeal was dismissed in May, which was described by Mr Connolly as 'shocking and unfair'. The Northampton town councillor, and former West Northamptonshire district councillor, said his wife had 'paid a very high price for making a mistake'. But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended it earlier this year. He was asked in May about Ms Connolly's case after her Court of Appeal application against her jail term was dismissed. Asked during Prime Minister's Questions whether her imprisonment was an 'efficient or fair use' of prison, Sir Keir said: 'Sentencing is a matter for our courts and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country. 'I am strongly in favour of free speech, we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely. 'But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.' Ms Connolly was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account, but other messages which included further racist remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone. The post was viewed 310,000 times in three and a half hours before she deleted it.
