Thus said the Iron General: the best quotes from Zaluzhny

General Valerii Zaluzhnyi was well-known to everyone even slightly interested in military topics. But let’s be frank — before February 24, 2022, there weren’t many such people. However, today the best quotes from Zaluzhny are known worldwide.

Since the beginning of the great war in 2022, Ukraine’s defense forces managed to stop the advance of over 100 enemy battalion tactical groups on nine directions. Moreover, Kyiv, Kharkiv oblasts, and the occupied regional center Kherson were liberated.

Their command, together with his staff, was carried out by Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. After World War II, military campaigns similar in scale and intensity didn’t exist.

July 8 is the birthday of the “Iron General” Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and on this day we’ve compiled a short list of his most famous quotes.

However Hard It Is for Us, We Definitely Won’t Be Ashamed

The general first said these words on March 7, 2022, in his address:

I thank each and every one of you. You showed the whole world how to fight for freedom and native land. I’m proud to be in formation with you. Warrior-heroes, hero-cities — this is our reality. However Hard It Is for Us, We Definitely Won’t Be Ashamed.

On the 2014 War’s Beginning (From The Economist interview, December 15, 2022):

For us military, the war started back in 2014. Personally for me — in July 2014. And in 2014 I had no idea about war. I read many books, graduated from all academies with gold medals, knew theory well, but didn’t know what war is in reality. But over eight years of war, by 2022, both I and people like me understood it perfectly.

After a large number of operations, we understood the main thing — don’t fear the enemy. You can fight him, you must fight him today, here and now. And never postpone it till tomorrow, because there will be problems.

This Isn’t a Show

From The Washington Post interview, June 30, 2023:

This isn’t a show the whole world watches and makes bets on or something similar. Every day, every meter is given with blood. Without full provision, these plans are generally unfeasible. Yet they’re being executed. Yes, maybe not as fast as show participants, observers would like, but those are their problems.

The Strategy That Worked

From interview with Dmytro Komarov, February 24, 2023 — exactly one year after full-scale invasion:

Our option was that in the shortest time we had to inflict maximum losses on the enemy, bleed him out so he’d refuse further actions on larger Ukrainian territory. And it worked. We were forced, even at the cost of leaving certain territory, to pull out the enemy, stretch his rear, stretch his reserves and simply burn him in places where equipment stopped and waited for refueling in two days.

The foundation of our resilience

The Foundation of Resilience (Facebook post, February 24, 2023):

The foundation of our resilience — people. Ordinary people. Ordinary Heroes. Among us. With us in formation.

These best quotes from Zaluzhny reveal the mind of a general who understood modern warfare not from textbooks but from years of combat. His words carry weight because they come from someone who bled his enemy methodically, who prioritized soldiers’ lives over observers’ impatience, who built victory on ordinary heroes.

Over 100 battalion tactical groups stopped. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson liberated. The Iron General’s legacy isn’t just in territory reclaimed but in the philosophy he instilled: fight today, here, now. Don’t fear the enemy. Don’t postpone till tomorrow. And above all — never be ashamed, however hard it gets.