A special "sign" or a rule of protocol? Why Zaluzhnyi appeared in Kyiv and what "betrayal" was found online

On Wednesday, September 11, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Ukraine. The former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and current Ambassador of Ukraine to the UK, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, arrived in Kyiv with them.

The photos of the smiling retired general caused quite a stir and a wave of conspiracy theories about the reason for his visit to the Ukrainian capital. OBOZ.UA investigated why Zaluzhnyi accompanied Lemmy on his trip to Kyiv.

Zaluzhnyi in Kyiv

Former Armed Forces chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi was seen in Kyiv for the first time since his appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom in May on September 11. He appeared in photos and videos with Blinken and Lemmy at the capital's railway station. Both officials had arrived in Kyiv to participate in the Crimean Platform summit that day and to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and members of the Ukrainian government.

Also, on the eve of the visit, some Western media wrote that after the meeting in London, Blinken and Lemmy were taking to Kyiv a message for the military and political leadership of Ukraine to authorize the use of Western long-range missiles to hit military targets deep in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Although there were no public statements about the lifting of such restrictions following the visit, the arrival of Blinken and Lemmy caused a real hysteria in the Russian media. So did the appearance of Zaluzhnyi, whose only information about his stay in Kyiv was that he, as a representative of the state, met the distinguished guests at the Kyiv train station and took part in a briefing with the foreign ministers of Ukraine, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Why did the former head of state return to Ukraine: Russian propaganda version

The fact that Zaluzhnyi, wearing an unusual civilian suit instead of the military uniform he had been wearing for years, came to Kyiv for a reason was almost immediately reported online. And while Ukrainians mostly console themselves with the hope that the ex-Commander-in-Chief's arrival heralds the announcement of important decisions to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities, representatives of the opposite "camp" began to build bizarre conspiracy theories.

One of these "theories," which was quickly and massively picked up by the Russian media, was voiced by the Telegram channel "Legitimate," which, according to the National Security and Defense Council and the Security Service of Ukraine, is part of a network of anti-Ukrainian publics.

In the imagination of the propagandists, the "legitimate" Zaluzhnyi was "brought to Kyiv" as Zelenskyy's "successor" – they could not come up with anything better than a copycat of the actions of Russia, which, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, took the "legitimate" fugitive former president Viktor Yanukovych to Minsk during attempts to negotiate with Ukraine.

This psychedelic theory also found a place to mention Zaluzhnyi's "involvement" in the "undermining of the Nord Stream pipeline."

"There is a 'commotion' on Bankova Street. Because the "gentlemen" demonstratively brought with them former chief of staff Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine's ambassador to Britain. This is an indicative step after the story of the Nord Stream blow-up. So to speak, a demonstration to the Ukrainian elite that Zaluzhnyi remains in the game called "successor." A hint to Zelenskyy," Legitimate shared his fantasies.

This nonsense was eagerly picked up by propagandists in Russia. And while the first-tier propaganda media certainly mentioned Zaluzhnyi's arrival, but did not go into the reasons for it, many Russian websites reprinted Legitimate's "insight" almost verbatim.

Some Russian media outlets, such as RenTV, stubbornly tried to link Zaluzhnyi's arrival to the alleged desire of the United States to make as much money as possible from the war. The propagandists did not explain how the two components of this "theory" are connected.

"A rarely seen troop of Anglo-Saxons landed in Kyiv. Secretary of State Blinken was followed by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and, unexpectedly for many, Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The retired commander-in-chief, who had quarreled with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, came in a business suit, like his companions, and made political analysts assume that Zaluzhnyi was not assigned the mission of a general, but of the chief controller of the West, so that Kyiv would not allow itself to be overwhelmed and would not disrupt multibillion-dollar contracts for the supply of American weapons," RenTV propagandists verbosely described their stream of consciousness.

Instead, the "colleagues" of "Legitimate" from another public, the Telegram channel "ZeRada", built another alternative "theory".

"Blinken and Lemmy were brought by Zaluzhnyi. According to the protocol, the ambassador must accompany only the first persons. The distinguished guests want to hear an alternative military opinion," the authors of the public page wrote.

A whole "bouquet" of different theories could be observed on the X network, formerly known as Twitter.

What's the truth?

Russian propaganda and ordinary conspiracy theorists in Network X were once again actively looking for a "black cat in a dark room."

As Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, Zaluzhnyi is actively working to strengthen diplomatic ties between Ukraine and the UK, particularly in the military and security spheres, to support the Ukrainian community, to improve the image of our country abroad, and so on.

It is no secret that the arrival of the host country's ambassador is part of the diplomatic protocol when high-ranking officials visit. Except perhaps for Russian propagandists and their "colleagues" from the so-called "Ukrainian" Telegram channels, who consistently spread all the theses of Kremlin propaganda.

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