Perhaps all political careers must end, inevitably, in failure. But few politicians have had careers as meteoric, as surprising, as consequential or as heroic as that of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. In just five years he has gone from TV comedian to victor of the biggest presidential landslide in his country’s history to inspiring wartime
  • Anarcho-Bolshevik@lemmygrad.ml
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    18 days ago

    Zelensky and his team will continue ruling directly through wartime powers that bypass parliament and, crucially, suspended all non-state broadcast media.

    How anybody can look at this regime and continue to insist that it's a democracy is beyond me. I doubt that this would qualify as a democracy even under neoliberalism's own backward criteria.

    I remember that after I suggested that Ukraine is a military dictatorship, some dullards on meanwhileonthegrad made fun of me for mentioning how there are so many photos of Zelensky in uniform next to other military officials, even though I was very obviously not arguing that that proved my point, but it is pretty typical for anticommunists to ignore everything of importance by focusing on some trivia. (The superabundance of militaristic Zelensky photos is simply bad propaganda. It isn't a smoking gun for a military dictatorship. I don't care for them much.)

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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      18 days ago

      Ukraine once again exposes that all these slogans, like democracy and human rights, are completely meaningless. It's all just a narrative to justify western interests.

    • porcupine@lemmygrad.ml
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      18 days ago

      How anybody can look at this regime and continue to insist that it’s a democracy is beyond me.

      People believe the US government defines what it means to be a democracy, and that how closely aligned you with the US government is the measure of how democratic you are as a society.

  • multitotal@lemmygrad.ml
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    18 days ago

    Looks like Zaluzhny has been rubbing shoulders with conservatives in the UK, convincing them that he should be the next president of Ukraine. I guess Zelenskyy thought Zaluzhny would bear his exile quietly, but he's been campaigning behind the scenes and some Western newspapers have called him a likely challenger to Zelenskyy. In Ukraine, Zaluzhny is supported by Klitschko and the neo-Nazis.

    Zelenskyy's former and current cabinet/staff has seen the writing on the wall and is slowly jumping ship. Zelenskyy is hoping the West will give him a way out of Ukraine. Zelenskyy will be talking about victory and taking back Crimea as he climbs his plane's steps holding a big bag of cash.

    Basically, everyone knows the war is over except Western liberals and Ukrainian diaspora.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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      18 days ago

      That's my impression as well, seems like there's game of thrones happening behind the scenes. The US appears to be backing Zelensky while UK is pushing Zaluzhny.

      • multitotal@lemmygrad.ml
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        18 days ago

        Definitely. Zaluzhny is trying to present himself as a reasonable person, he was (publicly) against mass mobilisation and against the failed counteroffensive. Many expected him to go all out against Zelenskyy when he removed him from his position and sent him to London, but he didn't, he's a shrewd operator. The West also likes that Zaluzhny has the support of the neo-nazis, support Zelenskyy lacks. The real decision-makers in Washington and Bruxelles aren't stupid, they know what's really going on. Neo-nazis hold the power in the streets, many of the TCC guys are Nazis, the police lets them do it because the police too are Nazis. Whoever hopes to rule Ukraine needs to have the neo-nazis' consent, but if they can get their support that's even better.

        Zelenskyy will be ousted before the war ends, his legacy will be of one of failure, and whoever replaces him (probably Zaluzhny) will oversee the peace negotiations and be hailed as the hero who saved Ukraine from destruction.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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          18 days ago

          It's very likely they're gonna keep Zelensky around to push through mobilization of teenagers which is massively unpopular, and then they'll shuffle him out.

          • multitotal@lemmygrad.ml
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            18 days ago

            If Zelenskyy passes that he knows that would be a death sentence. I think that's a red line for Ukrainians. That's why it has been a resounding no from all levels of the UA government (the only people for are the rabid nationalists and the neo-nazis). If they start mobilising 18yos there will be a coup. Because mobilising 18yos, means potentially mobilising 17, 16, 15yos, as in those current age groups might be old enough for mobilisation in the near future, depending on how long the war lasts.

            It'd be a coup or a mass exodus, any teenager and their mother would be running for the border.