2023-11-02 20:13:54
Between embarrassed denials, accusations of manipulation and calls for a change of course, the publication, on October 30, by the American magazine Time of a long article dedicated to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky provoked a vehement reaction in Ukraine, while fear of a stagnation in the war has continued to grow in recent weeks.
A mixture of an interview with the Ukrainian president and anonymous quotes from several of his advisors, the article paints a dark portrait of Volodymyr Zelensky more determined than ever to fight until victory, but faced with the threat of countries’ disinterest Westerners and to the skepticism of part of his team. “He has illusions” assures in the article an anonymous source close to the president, adding: “We are running out of options. We don’t win. But go tell him that. » Other shocking sentences evoke corruption that remains as strong as ever, significant losses in the army and officers on the front line refusing to go on the offensive, despite direct orders from the presidency.
A worrying story, received with virulence by part of Ukrainian society. “I am amazed at the extent to which Russian propaganda has infiltrated a media outlet like Time,” Dimko Zhluktenko, founder of an NGO supporting the Ukrainian army, was outraged on social networks. On Ukrainian television, the secretary of the Ukrainian security council, Oleksiy Danilov, called for law enforcement to identify these anonymous advisers “who do not believe in victory”. Mykhaïlo Podoliak, an advisor to the president who is very present in the media, quickly distanced himself, evoking “the subjective point of view of a journalist”.
But the article and the portrait it paints of the situation were taken seriously by many representatives of Ukrainian society. In a sign of a change in tone from the authorities, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valeri Zalouzhny, acknowledged this week that the military situation was now “at an impasse”, after the failure of the counter-offensive launched at the beginning of the summer by Ukraine to break through the Russian lines.
In this context, the article of Time East “a cold shower” for the president, Hennadiy Drouzhenko, a figure in Ukrainian civil society and director of an NGO providing medical care to the army, reacted on his Facebook page: “Zelensky finally understands that without radical changes inside the country, he will be forced to negotiate with Putin, which will mean his political death. » A call for a start by initiating profound reforms.
“To put it bluntly, I see nothing new in the general issues raised by the article,” However, tempers Serhiy Rakhmanin, deputy member of the defense committee. “I have always been in favor of calling a spade a spade, of telling society that this war could be long and more complicated than we thought. » In Ukraine, another passage from the article Time is also now attracting attention: the promise, mentioned by the president’s advisors, of an imminent “major change in military strategy” as well as a large-scale reshuffle in the president’s entourage.
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