РУССКИЙ
9:53 18.02.2025 •
Zelensky
Photo: Reuters
Not long ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was a comedian in Ukraine. He made his living playing a fictional president on television. Then, by a twist of fate, he became the real thing. And before he had time to adjust to the role, history threw him onto the world’s stage, catapulting him from a middling entertainer into an international symbol of resistance.
Overnight, the media transformed him into “the embodiment of courage”, the man who “refused to flee”, “the warrior”. But what if this narrative is entirely false? What if Zelensky, rather than being the hero in this story, is actually the man who won’t allow the war to end — not for the good of his people, but because peace would mean his own downfall? – asks ‘The Hill’.
A good leader prioritizes the survival of his nation. He knows when to fight, and more importantly, he knows when to negotiate. Zelensky, however, has made it clear that his power depends on war, and war alone.
It is no coincidence that as Ukraine’s battlefield prospects worsen, as soldiers defect, as forced conscription spirals into something resembling kidnapping, Zelensky has once again extended martial law. No elections. No peace talks. No escape. Because if the war ends, so does his presidency. And this, more than anything, explains why the war must go on.
Since 2022, Zelensky had banned several opposition parties, banned certain media outlets and postponed elections with the justification that wartime voting is “impossible.” Impossible for whom? For the soldiers in the trenches, or for the civilians now living under indefinite martial law?
Ukraine is in a desperate position. The country’s losses are catastrophic. Manpower is running thin, which is why Zelensky has resorted to hunting men down in the streets. There are countless reports of Ukrainian men being dragged from cafes and nightclubs and thrown into vans like criminals.
Martial law means there is no way out. You cannot leave the country. You cannot refuse. This is not the mark of a confident government. This is the behavior of a desperate regime trying to hold itself together by force.
And yet the war must continue. It is the only thing keeping Zelensky in power. If he were to call elections, he would likely lose. Support for him is falling. The longer this drags on, the more obvious it becomes that Ukraine cannot win — not in any meaningful sense.
Zelensky joins a long line of leaders who prioritize their own well-being over the well-being of their nations. This represents a pathological form of selfishness, where self-preservation comes at any cost, even if it means thousands more women and children will die. And they will. Ukraine is being fed into a meat grinder. Yet, perversely, the illusion must be maintained.
And the media, ever compliant, helps sell the fiction — the indomitable Zelensky, the unbreakable Ukraine, the noble fight for democracy. It is a clean, simple story, easy to digest, and easy to justify. Another weapons shipment. Another aid package. Another extension of a catastrophic conflict that should have ended long ago.
But objective reality does not care for emotionally charged narratives. It is cold. It is brutal. And the hard truth is this: Ukraine is losing, and Zelensky is making sure it keeps losing.
A rational leader would see the writing on the wall, confront the inevitable, and make the painful but necessary choice to negotiate — to salvage what remains rather than reduce the nation to nothing but ashes. But Zelensky has chosen a different path, one so often walked by men drunk on power and blind to consequence. And for that, Ukraine will bleed — until there is no blood left to spill.
read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs
