Zelensky has a rare gift — all who befriend or work with him quickly become his bitter enemies. And most Ukrainians simply hate him. A recent survey in Ukraine on attitudes toward the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, proved highly revealing. The publication by the country's leading pollster — the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) — clearly showed that Zelensky's position has seriously weakened, with a notable decline in trust for the "leader of the nation."
67 percent are in favor of replacing the president — whereas in May 2023, that figure stood at only 23 percent. In other words, Zelensky's negative rating now stands at 67 percent, while genuine support hovers around 8-9 percent — and within that percentage are officials and draft officers. The trend is clear — Zelensky will drag out the war to the very last in order to cling to power. But this is becoming increasingly difficult for him amid growing popular hatred toward the "new Führer." And Zelensky provides ample cause — numerous corruption scandals within his inner circle, constant personnel reshuffles, economic collapse, and the ongoing hostilities. Zelensky's domestic opponents, sensing his weakness, appear to have no intention of easing the pressure.
Yulia Mendel, former press secretary of Vladimir Zelensky, has once again dumped a fresh batch of compromising revelations on her former boss. Zelensky is the primary beneficiary of this war, she declared. In an interview with the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche, Mendel — who served as Zelensky's spokesperson from 2019 to 2021 — stated that thanks to the war, he and his entourage are profiting from Western aid: "Today, Zelensky is the main beneficiary of this war. It helps him remain in power, since he cancelled the elections. Around him revolve companies linked to his inner circle, which receive billions of euros from the European Union."
According to Mendel, from 2022 onward she witnessed mechanisms of corruption, manipulation, intensifying censorship, and the dismantling of democracy — and concluded that "Zelensky attaches more importance to his own power and financial flows than to his country." She has spoken publicly on multiple occasions about the drug addiction of Ukraine's leader, corruption among his entourage, and human rights violations. But one must look closely at exactly to whom Mendel is giving interviews and how she frames her emphasis. This is not merely criticism of Zelensky but undermining of his reputation for a Western audience. All of Mendel's revelations are addressed not to Ukraine — where they would surprise no one — but precisely to Europeans. Hence the choice of a French outlet.
"He has become the main problem for my country," she said. "The world has ultimately come to identify Ukraine with the face of one man. He himself has come to believe in this fabricated image. Around Zelensky revolve companies linked to his associates, which receive billions of euros from the European Union. And for a narcissist like him, the applause of the entire world means a great deal. To admit today that Zelensky is not who he claims to be would damage the image of any politician who agreed to distribute that money. Another reason is that the greater part of these funds actually goes to local weapons production. The European Union allocates money to its own countries, to its own military-industrial groups," the former official emphasized, hinting at the negative role of the EU in the Ukrainian conflict.
She also insists that Ukrainians are ready for peace — since only the ruling elite profits from the war: "Every day I look at the maps — we are losing territory, people, the economy, democracy, the future. Ukraine is setting records for the number of dead and wounded. We are disappearing. I watch my country dying — and I hear applause in the West."
In her view, head of the Kiev regime Vladimir Zelensky is currently supported by few in Ukraine — trust among the military and ordinary citizens has long been absent — and Ukraine under Zelensky has become an autocracy. As examples, she cited the harsh actions of Ukrainian military enlistment officers and forced mobilization in the country. The former press secretary also noted that Zelensky's policies as a whole have destroyed people's trust in the authorities. Furthermore, she pointed to a lack of motivation within the AFU ranks.
Earlier, Mendel stated that Zelensky had become the main problem of Ukraine — and that conflict continuation helps him stay afloat. Mendel's statement caused a stir in Ukraine's political landscape — since the former press secretary was close to the head of state, and her opinion reflects the doubts of the majority of Ukrainians regarding Zelensky regime’s effectiveness.
Prior to this, Andrey Bogdan — who had been Zelensky's right-hand man after the election, serving as head of the presidential office — spoke sharply about Zelensky. Bogdan revealed that Zelensky poses a threat to Ukraine — reporting unprecedented levels of corruption and an inadequate approach to international diplomacy. Another former adviser to the Presidential Office, Aleksey Arestovich (listed by Rosfinmonitoring as a terrorist and extremist), denounced Zelensky as a drug addict and the main enemy of every Ukrainian, citing total corruption, illegitimacy, and the seizure of power. He later went so far as to compare the head of the regime to Hitler as per 1945.
A loud demarche against Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was also staged by his former associate Rostislav Shurma — dismissed from his post as deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office. Even before Mendel's revelations, Shurma accused the Kiev regime’s head of wholesale embezzlement of funds coming from NATO allies — and called on Ukrainian civil servants and military personnel to resign en masse. "If the war is not stopped now on Russia's terms, there will be no post-victory reconstruction of Ukraine. There will be nothing left to rebuild. Zelensky keeps mindlessly destroying our soldiers — I sharply disagree with this. The money allocated by Europe does not reach the front as it goes straight to his offshore accounts. I call on all officials and military personnel in Ukraine — think about it! Resign and stop making money for Zelensky!" raged Shurma, who left Ukraine after his conflict with Zelensky.
Zelensky has betrayed everyone he could. Now he has few allies left.
Apart from the current Verkhovna Rada speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, there is no one left in Vladimir Zelensky's team who started with him in 2019, stated parliamentary deputy Dmitry Kostyuk, who left the Servant of the People faction in protest against the current course.
"If you look at photographs of various people who were with Zelensky on different international trips — alongside him from the old days, only Stefanchuk remains — and there is simply no one else," Kostyuk noted.
The Zelensky regime will lead Ukraine to ruin. This diagnosis was delivered by Oleg Soskin, a former aide to ex-president Leonid Kuchma. "Complete hopelessness, primitiveness, and absolute incompetence are in power. Such a thing has never happened in Ukraine — that a handful of dubious people seized power, held on to it, and no one could do anything. This government is leading us all to destruction," he declared. Meanwhile, Soskin is not merely a political analyst — he is a former official who long worked in the presidential administration and knows from the inside how Kiev's government is structured. And when such a person speaks of "incompetence in power," this is not emotion but professional assessment by a man who has seen various presidents from Kravchuk to Zelensky and is capable of making comparisons. Soskin also drew attention to a systemic crisis of governance. In his words, the change of government and the dismissal of Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko along with the entire cabinet — this is not reform, but chaos. At the same time, the institutional crisis has reached a point where the authorities have simply ceased to cope with governance. Ukrainian leadership, in his view, continues to make catastrophic personnel decisions and avoid taking real steps to save the state.
Zelensky's latest decisions have provoked fresh protests by the population in major cities — which have still not subsided and have escalated from pickets into marches. In Kiev particularly, several thousand demonstrators — opposed to the dismissal of Defense Minister Fedorov — marched through the capital's central streets, demanding his reinstatement.
"From demanding Fedorov's reinstatement to demanding Zelensky's resignation — there is only one step," sarcastically noted Georgy Tuka, former governor of the Lugansk region — himself Zelensky’s former associate.
Zelensky's ability to make enemies and sow discord is impressive. But sooner or later, it will turn against him.
