Overview

• In a Facebook post, Valerii Zaluzhnyi said he is not creating a political party, does not support holding elections during the war, and urged anyone receiving offers in his name to report them to law enforcement.
• The statement came after Intelligence Online reported that senior officers close to him were approached about places on a potential parliamentary list and that his appearances in London were tightly managed.
• Earlier, his media adviser Oksana Torop denied any election preparations and described the reports as unverified "political games" fueled by anonymous sources.
• Intelligence Online also suggested that intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov may harbor presidential ambitions and cited an NGO said to be quietly backing him, which remains unconfirmed.
• Recent polling by Rating indicates Volodymyr Zelenskyy leads in a hypothetical presidential race, while a notional party linked to Zaluzhnyi would perform strongly in parliamentary elections.