Zelensky sacks his commander-in-chief

Plus: Supreme Court justices seem sceptical of Trump's Colorado ballot ban, and chess has sexism debate

View this email online 8 February, 2024 Jules Darmanin Hello. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked his commander-in-chief earlier today. Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale is helping us understand what that means for the country’s war effort. Meanwhile, Sam Cabral is taking us to the US Supreme Court, where justices appeared sceptical of arguments in favour of banning former President Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado. At the bottom of this newsletter, you’ll find stories on reality TV and high-altitude waste management. Get up to speed • US President Joe Biden "wilfully retained and disclosed classified materials", a special counsel has found. But he will not face charges. Here’s why. • Brazil's ex-President Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to surrender his passport as part of a probe into the 2023 storming of Brazil's Congress by his supporters. • The US Senate has advanced an aid package for Ukraine and Israel a day after Republicans blocked a larger bipartisan border security and foreign aid bill. Questions Answered Zelensky sacks commander-in-chief Zaluzhnyi was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces in July 2021. Credit: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service Ukraine's president has ousted the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The move marks the biggest change to Ukraine's military leadership since Russia's invasion in February 2022. Jonathan Beale, defence correspondent Why did Volodymyr Zelensky sack his military chief? We know only a little about this. The early offensives of 2022 have been the pinnacle of Gen Zaluzhnyi's battlefield successes. But they also fuelled unrealistic Western expectations of what might happen next. The subsequent, long-anticipated Ukrainian offensive in the summer of 2023 was supposed to be decisive. It wasn't. In fact, Gen Zaluzhnyi ended up calling it "a stalemate". Defence analyst and expert Justin Crump says that comment may have led to the breakdown of the relationship between the president and his top military commander: "The Ukrainian leadership didn't want to see the word stalemate used - not least to make sure that support [from the West] kept flowing". Was there a fallout between the two men? Gen Zaluzhnyi's departure appears to amicable. He will remain part of the military team advising the president. This may be a politically astute move for Mr Zelensky, with some opinion polls suggesting the general was more popular than he was. What next for Ukraine's war effort? Gen Zaluzhnyi's replacement, Gen Oleksandr Syrsky, was the commander in the east for the last two years. His new job won't be any easier. And the shake up at the top will not immediately resolve the crises on the battlefield - with Ukraine struggling with shortages of both ammunition and manpower. Read in full • Who is Oleksandr Syrsky?: Here’s more on Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief, who has led the defence of Kyiv at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion back in 2022. • Over in Moscow: Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin says. • Watch: Russia's election commission has rejected anti-war challenger Boris Nadezhdin as a candidate in next month's presidential vote. He told the BBC he would challenge the decision in court. AT THE SCENE | US Supreme Court Supreme Court appears skeptical of Colorado Trump ban The Colorado Supreme Court said Donald Trump's actions in the build-up to 6 January 2021 constituted insurrection. Credit: Reuters The US Supreme Court has heard arguments as to whether Donald Trump can be on the ballot in this year’s presidential election. Last year, Colorado's top court said Mr Trump had engaged in insurrection over the US Capitol riot, making him ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. A lawyer for Colorado voters argued it was “a democratic safety valve” against the former president. Sam Cabral, BBC News Jason Murray, the attorney on behalf of Colorado voters told the Supreme Court that constitutional safeguards existed to protect America from federal candidates like Trump. Murray alleged the former president sought to disenfranchise millions of voters and then violently invited an insurrection against the country. But most justices on the Supreme Court seemed troubled by the idea of a single state taking such dramatic action against the leading Republican candidate in a presidential election. They did not appear convinced that the state of Colorado was correctly enforcing the 14th Amendment, with Chief Justice John Roberts saying the provision was meant to limit state power and expand federal power. His colleagues Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch also posed stiff questions, with the latter seemingly unimpressed by Murray’s responses. An unanimous ruling appears unlikely, as the likes of Ketanji Brown Jackson and Amy Coney Barrett seem deeply sceptical of the Trump team’s skewering of the wording that underpins Section 3. But after two hours of argument, this court’s solidly conservative majority looks set to side with Trump and keep him on the ballot. How it went down • Section 3: If US constitutional law is not your forte, Sam Cabral and Kayla Epstein have this handy guide to the 14th Amendment, and its Section 3 that’s in question at the Supreme Court. • An unprecedented case: This is the first time Section 3 has been used against a presidential candidate. Here’s how the case landed on the desks of Supreme Court justices. • Who are the justices?: The current court has been called the most conservative-leaning in modern US history. Here’s a closer look at the justices, their career history and legal philosophy. The big picture Chess’ reality check Many female chess players say they feel held back because of their gender. Credit: Tata Steel Chess Chess is one of few competitive sports where men and women often compete against each other. But it’s far from an egalitarian utopia. And when Divya Deshmukh, an 18-year-old Indian chess player, started speaking out about the hateful comments she has been facing online or in tournaments since she was 14, it reignited a conversation about gender imbalance in the game. Here’s why For your downtime Cultural phenomenon TV show The Traitors has proved a hit because of our obsession with liars. Tell me more And finally... Climbing Mount Everest now involves a new challenge: clearing up one’s excrement and bringing it back to base camp. The Pasang Lhamu municipality that covers the region of the world’s tallest peak introduced the rule following complaints of human stools being visible on rocks and some climbers falling sick. US Election Unspun newsletter Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday to your inbox. Sign up here More newsletters from us • Football Extra: Latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League, weekdays. Subscribe. • Royal Watch: The full story from royal correspondent Sean Coughlan, every Thursday. Subscribe. • Tech Decoded: Timely, trusted tech news from global correspondents, twice-weekly. Subscribe. Thank you, as ever, for reading. Send us suggestions for topics or areas of the world to cover in this newsletter. Tell your friends and family about it! They can sign up here. You can take a look at all our newsletters here. 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