Ukraine is forced to deny sacking its military chief and rumors swirl that Putin's wartime commander has been assassinated amid high tensions on both sides over the conflict's stalemate

Ukraine has been forced to deny firing its military chief amid rumors that Putin's wartime commander has been killed.

Volodymyr Zelensky denied dismissing his wartime supremo General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, amid deep tensions simmering on both sides over the inability to make major breakthroughs in the war.

Zaluzhnyi, 50, even posted a photo at night with Chief of the Ukrainian General Staff Serhiy Shaptala, also 50, apparently to show that he was still in charge.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin's wartime commander, General Valery Gerasimov, has not been seen for more than a month following an unverified series of reports that he had been killed in a rocket attack on Sevastopol.

The 68-year-old Gerasimov is known for going unseen for long periods of time, but he has failed to boost the morale of his forces with visible visits to the front lines during this period.

On January 5, unsubstantiated reports emerged that he was present at a command post hit by a Storm Shadow attack the night before near Sevastopol in occupied Crimea.

Moscow did not comment on the claims that appeared on social media.

The head of Kiev's military intelligence, Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, said he could not verify the claims about Gerasimov.

In fact, the Russian war commander has not been seen this year.

He last appeared tired in video footage on December 29, when he presented awards to “soldiers who distinguished themselves during the liberation of Marinka” in Ukraine's occupied Donetsk region.

It comes amid criticism of the performance of Russia's armed forces, most recently by Senator Dmitry Rogozin, former deputy prime minister in charge of the defense industry and later head of the Russian Space Agency.

“There must be significant changes in the Russian armed forces,” he said.

'As far as I am concerned, an expansion of the workforce is necessary. Numerical superiority over the enemy is necessary.

“There are a lot of people there in Ukraine, there is a general mobilization. We don't have it.'

He also accused the armed forces under Gerasimov of over-relying on “traditional weapons systems” during the war.

Meanwhile, the Russians seized on reports that Zelensky had fired Zaluzhnyi.

It was claimed that a decree was being prepared and that the general had turned down an offer of an ambassadorship to Europe.

There were also claims that he would be replaced by Budanov, 38.

The rumors continued for several hours before Zelensky's spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov dismissed the claims.

'Absolutely not. “The president did not fire the commander-in-chief,” he said.

Elsewhere he said: 'There is no talking point, there has been no dismissal, I can't say anything else.'

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also rejected the reports.

Zelensky made no mention of the speculation in his nightly television address.

But the reports highlight the instability in Kiev, which was seized upon by Russian propagandists.

Some Telegram channels even claimed that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who was only appointed in September, had resigned.

Some analysts see Zaluzhnyi as a threat to Zelensky and a likely future president of Ukraine.

A recent poll showed that 72 percent of Ukrainians would have a “negative attitude” toward Zaluzhnyi's resignation.

It was alleged that Zaluzhnyi's camp may have leaked the resignation rumors to force Zelensky to publicly support him, amid deep tensions in their relationship following the failure of Ukraine's counter-offensive.

Rogozin claimed that the Russian military “fights in great tension and sometimes experiences a lack of modern military-technical answers to many threats, including the enemy's superiority in attack drones.”

He lashed out at “those who spread lies about our collective and extremely dangerous enemy.”

Rogozin warned: “The hope that the other side will run out of weapons and soldiers is the most dangerous self-deception. Military officials have spoken in recent days about increased Russian military activity on long stretches of the 1,000-kilometer frontline through eastern and southern Ukraine.

Fighting along the front line has largely frozen over the winter, but missile and drone attacks in Russia have showcased Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities, straining Moscow's security assets.

On the southern front, military spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk told a briefing that Ukrainian forces were expanding the position they captured on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in late October, despite intensifying Russian attacks.

Russian forces swept through the Kherson region in the days after the February 2022 invasion, but by the end of the year had abandoned the region's main city and the western bank of the Dnipro.