By David Sole
Top Ukrainian leaders continue to openly feud, exposing the deepening crisis in that country. The failure of the Spring-Summer-Fall “offensive” to make any progress is creating confrontation and instability in Kiev.
On November 4 President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly criticized Ukraine’s top military officer, General Valery Zaluzhny, for his admission that the war with the Russian Federation was at a “stalemate.” In a television address the President’s deputy, Ihor Zhovkva, condemned Zaluzhny for helping Russia with his comments.
At the same time Zelensky also fired the head of special operations forces, General Viktor Khorenko, a high-ranking deputy of Gen. Zaluzhny. A number of other battalion commanders who commanded troops on the southern front were also dismissed.
The dismal military situation across the 600 mile battle front is also making itself felt in the broader Ukrainian public. The New York Times, which has been a strong promoter of the Ukraine proxy war, reported on November 5 that public support for the Zelensky government “fell from 74 percent in May to 39 percent in October, the period when the Ukrainian offensive began and then petered out.”
Polls even showed that support “for a negotiated settlement with Russia has increased in a small but still significant way for the first time since the invasion began” from 10 percent to 14 percent.
It is unlikely that Zelensky and his U.S. handlers will consider a negotiated settlement of this conflict. After all, the United States torpedoed a peace agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine a few weeks after the start of Russia’s Special Military Operation on February 24, 2022. This was confirmed last year by Germany’s former Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder. U.S. imperialism planned this war with the goal of “weakening Russia” and doesn’t care what price the Ukrainian people pay in blood or treasure.
As public support for the Ukraine war weakens in the U.S. and other NATO countries, the Zelensky regime continues to swing to the right. In a small, but symbolic action, a monument to the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II was partially dismantled. According to RT.com
“The Ukrainian authorities in Kiev have partially dismantled a monument commemorating the Soviet victory over the Nazi Germany and the role the city played in that struggle. Photos and videos that surfaced on social media and published by some Ukrainian news outlets on Saturday showed city workers disassembling and removing a golden star crowning the 40-meter-tall monument.”
The dire military situation and his deepening split with his generals may be causing Zelensky to be losing touch with reality. In a recent interview with Reuters news service the president spoke of Ukraine continuing the war even without U.S. support. Of course this is a complete delusion since the U.S. and the NATO allies have provided all the military supplies and have even been directing much of the fighting. Even Ukraine’s government operations are funded at around $1 billion a month.
Only a crushing defeat on the battlefield can precipitate a swing in public opinion or a revolt by the Ukrainian troops or their commanders. That outcome may not be long in coming.
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