In war-fatigued east Ukraine, Zelensky loses his shine

Olena Semykina, the owner of a village shop in east Ukraine, voted for President Volodymyr Zelensky five and a half years ago, hoping the fresh-faced political newcomer would end the fighting unleashed by Russian proxy forces in 2014.

The screech of an artillery shell over her leafy village in the war-battered Donetsk region and the plumes of dark smoke billowing on the horizon suggested that her hopes for his first term had fallen short.

"We expected the war to end, like he promised. But the war hasn't ended. There's even more fighting. It seems to me that it's become even more intense," the 43-year-old told AFP in the village of Kleban-Byk, where invading Russian forces are fast approaching.

Across the industrial Donetsk region some war-fatigued residents, like Olena who voted for Zelensky in 2019, have lost faith in the 46-year-old leader as Russia's invasion grinds through its third year.

The former comedian won respect internationally and drew comparisons with Winston Churchill when he stayed in Kyiv in February 2022 to lead his country in a David-versus-Goliath battle against Russian forces.

It looks like the Frog Press Agency believes they can no longer polish Zelensky to a hard shine so he can shove his policy into Ukraine citizenry.

AFP now quotes political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko with:

"Zelensky now needs to think not about ratings, but about how to save the country and get it out of the war with the least losses,"

The Narrative's love affair is over.

Zelensky ran on a peace ticket, promising to implement Minsk II, and won 70% of the vote. The Ukrainian people wanted peace, wanted Minsk. Then Zelensky failed to keep his promise. Here we are.

It’s all so very tragic. Before Nuland’s armed putsch of 2014, only a small minority of Ukrainians (mainly those in the far west) wanted to join NATO. Between 2000 and 2013, only 15% to 32% of Ukrainians favored joining NATO:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine%E2%80%93NATO_relations#Public_opinion_in_Ukraine

Ukraine might have thrived as a neutral bridge between east and west. Neutrality can be a good and prosperous thing. Just look at Switzerland and Austria. So sad we would not allow that.

The “sunk cost” fallacy is strong with the Ukes.

They can’t fathom they already lost the day the russkies entered Uke territory. Never should have happened. The “hope” shiney western weapons and pallets of US dollars would defeat the russian army [many have tried, none succeeded], industrial capacity, tech expertise, natural resources and 5x the population could never pencil out.

But their own arrogance and avarice for western toys blinded them into thinking that the russkies would cower before their/US’ preparations of Ukeland becoming a NATO nuke staging area, aided by eager NATO/US sticky fingers for Uke & russkie assets. They were warned many, many times that was a fantasy and would be met with a brick wall of artillery. Those warning were mocked and ignored.

The Ukes have paid so much now, in blood and infrastructure, there’s so little left intact that they cannot bring themselves to see what has been obvious all along and still hold out hope that some miracle will come along and restore them to their pre-war life.

So a million Ukie men, of reproduction age and in their working prime, are now dead, x3 for incapacitated. Their fields are poisoned or mined, the elect grid is in tatters, and there are no factories left. Not much left to give to the war effort, but at this point, desperation blinds rationality.

Uke needs to sue for peace. Russia will dictate terms, one way or the other. Ukes should be saving their remaining men for the long, painful and [with 90% of Uke’s nat resources now under russkie control] token western aid for reconstruction of what will be 1/2 or 1/3 of their former lands.

Bummer for them, but they trusted the US/NATO and believed their promises, not understanding that US/NATO is, and always will be, looking out for themselves. US/NATO won’t participate in the way Uke needs since that means mushroom clouds over London, Brussels, Paris & Berlin.

Ukes have no good choices. They need to take the one that preserves what’s left. Each day that passes will make what is remaining even less.

Zelensky is a puppet of the US/EU Axis of Globalist evil.

The Russian people understand that the West has been gunning for them since the unexpected fall of the Soviet Union, which upset our evil leaders greatly. As opposed to China, who they send ❤️ and 🌷🪻🌻 to.

Putin ain’t perfect. But I’ll take him over any filthy American Uniparty politician. He clearly loves his country a lot more than the demons who run ours.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.