Actor, comedian, and since 2019 president of Ukraine. Born January 25 in the thin Horn Vladimir Zelenski turns 46 today.
The Jubilee seems not to be round, but it is worth to make a balance sheet on this occasion, even if only a partial, to-date achievements promoted powerfully in the West. As he became president of Ukraine in 2019, it is worth judging him primarily from the Ukrainian point of view.
Conflicted with All
Reasons for joy in the Kiev Office of president alternatively little. His immediate surroundings are clearly aware that Zelenski managed to conflict with everyone in a short time. Media, including abroad ones, have been paying attention to his dispute with the commander-in-chief, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Gen. Valery of Meritwho enjoys at least 1 present support (40% of respondents), as Ukrainian president (42%).
His conflict with his predecessor is besides ongoing, Peter Poroshenko, against which respective twelve criminal proceedings have already been initiated, but this 1 is inactive at large. It besides boils in the relations of the current president with the incumbent mayor of Kiev, Vitaly Klickain 1 of the most fresh interviews He called Zelenski an autocrat leading the country astray. The Jubilee in all polls is getting weaker. possibly that is why he decided not to organise the next elections, which should take place in view of the expiry of his constitutional term.
Freedom of speech
After taking office of president Zelenski immediately closed 3 popular tv channels considered to be "pro-Russian" – 112 Ukraine, ZIK and NewsOne. Even the UN Commissioner for Human Rights has highlighted the problem. "States must respect, defend and warrant freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive and disseminate various information and ideas" – he wrote in a peculiar statement.
It is widely known that the Ukrainian authorities do not respect Russian-speaking language rights.
Corruption
The show fight against corruption, which was to be dealt with, shortly became a persecution of uncomfortable opposition. At the same time, corruption charges came up against him. global Group investigative journalists established that in 2012 he had registered in taxation havens (British Virgin Islands, Belize, Cyprus) a full scope of companies through which he purchased costly properties in London. In the same way, the name of washing money oligarchy Igora Kolomojski originating in his PriwatBank. It's expected to have been legal, but this kind of practice doesn't truly deal with the image of the future president. The Ukrainians began to powerfully uncertainty the ethical qualifications of their erstwhile comedian.
In Transparency global ranking The perceived corruption of Ukraine was as a consequence ranked 117th, between Algeria and Angola.
Already in fresh years, Ukrainian troops have repeatedly been in the midst of allegations of illicit trafficking in weapons, including those handed over as part of hardware support, to the mediate East and Latin America countries.
Economic crisis
The second year of the war with Russia has just passed. The Ukrainians are increasingly tired—and those on the front; and those on its back. Agriculture and manufacture are in a deep crisis. This is illustrated by changes in GDP. According to the Ministry of Economy and Statistical Office, GDP declined by 1⁄4 between 2022 and 2023, while inflation reached 32% during this period. War management is becoming increasingly difficult.
How informed On January 21, 2024, the nipponese JB Press agency, Ukraine, is only maintained by loans from global financial institutions and Western countries. As a result, the external debt amounted to $88.6 billion in November 2023, or 40.8% more than a year earlier. The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine reported that the budget deficit in 2023 was $35 billion, which is half as much as a year ago.
According to the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, out of 28.5 million people remaining in the country, only 11.7 million show any economical activity and 9.3 million are employed. The situation is getting worse. fresh jobs do not arise and less people pay taxes.
Debt spills are fueled by military spending, and at the same time it is not known how Kiev wants to return these debts someday. The lion's part of the debt the West will gotta restructure, that is, just decommission. And all of this is at the expense of Western taxpayers, who cannot be amazed in this situation that they do not accept additional support and protest against further arms supplies. How Grants CNN, I don't think there's going to be any more backing in the American budget to support Kiev, especially in the year of the election campaign.
Soldiers' deficit
The economical crisis, corruption and shortages of weapons are problems that seem secondary to another Zelensk problem: shortly there will be no 1 to fight on the front. Estimates showed that after the last failed counteroffensive, Kiev's number of killed and badly wounded soldiers reached half a million. These are not the calculations of Russian propaganda, but of the erstwhile lawyer General of Ukraine, Yuria Łucenka.
In this context, there was a stormy discussion in the ultimate Council of Ukraine about the fresh bill on mobilization. An additional 500,000 conscripts were planned to join the army. Projectors proposed to reduce the number of persons entitled to postpone military service, including removal from this category of group III disabilityes. The lower threshold of the draft age was lowered from 27 to 25 years.
Territorial losses
Vladimir Zelenski will go back to past as the Ukrainian leader who led to the failure of over 1/5 of the country's territory. It is about almost the full Lugansk region, a large area of the Donetsk, Zaporosk and Khersonsk Oblast. In addition, the failure of the grain contract led to the actual blockade of the sea Ukraine.
Depopulation
As a consequence of the panic that erupted immediately after the Russian intervention began, its homes left by the summertime of 2022, according to the UN exile Agency, over 10 million citizens. 6.7 million of them went abroad (data from late October 2023). UN forecasts indicate that the trend will increase further if the Ukrainian-Russian conflict continues.
Rise and Fall
In his run before the 2019 presidential election, Zelenski promised to break up with the militaristic policy of confronting Russia led by Piotr Poroshenko. erstwhile comedian promised Ukrainians peace, stableness and justice. shortly his rhetoric changed dramatically under Western influence. After 3 years of office, he officially stated that Kiev had resigned from the implementation of Minsk agreements and demanded NATO safety guarantees the same as the members of the alliance enjoy. Moscow's reaction was predictable – preparations for war began.
The first months of conflict seemed to be playing for Zelensky. He portrayed himself as a victim of the aggression of a powerful neighbor. His speeches in the parliaments of various countries were received with cheers. There were streams of generous support. After 2 years, small was left of the enthusiasm of the time. Zelenski is no longer a star, especially after the outbreak of another war in the mediate East.
That's why it's hard to anticipate mass wishes for the president from the Ukrainians on his birthday. They have another problems: many have lost their relatives and relatives, others have no roof over their heads. And the situation is getting worse.
Andrzej Dołęga
