Ukrainian President Zolodymyr Zelensky announced a ban on “any activity” by eleven political parties. He also nationalized all remaining Ukrainian television news outlets. Zelensky says there will now only be one “United News.”
Since the start of the Russian invasion, a member of Zelensky’s negotiation team was murdered. Denis Kireev, 45, participated in the first two rounds of peace negotiations in Belarus. He was then shot and killed on the sidewalk in Kiev. Opposition MPs immediately announced that Kireev’s death was an execution by Zelensky’s government. Zelensky then countered by claiming Kireeve died fighting for Ukraine. However, Zelensky has already been caught telling wildly false stories.
Zelensky, as well as Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschk, claim that dozens of “saboteurs” have been “eliminated” in the city of Kiev alone.
He has sacked at least three governors since the start of the invasion. In Ukraine, the governors of all 24 Oblasts are appointed by the president and can be sacked at any time. This “unitarian state” system is part of the reason there has been a war going on in Ukraine since 2014 in the first place.
Zelensky named Maxim Marchenko, a former commander of Aidar Battalion, as governor of Odesa Oblast. Mainline international humanitarian groups accuse Aidar of kidnapping, torture, murders, and stealing humanitarian aid from starving civilians in the Donbas. Aidar became so notorious that the Ukrainian government was forced to pretend like it was disbanded. Aidar Battalion, operating under a new name, was stationed around Mariupol at the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Zelensky placed opposition parliament leader Viktor Medvedchuk under house arrest and froze his assets long before the Russian invasion. He shut down opposition media outlets as well.
The idea that two of the east Slavic states are bastions of authoritarianism where corrupt Oligarchs have most of the money, but the third is a saint-like beacon of modern Democracy is entirely absurd. All three are authoritarian and have Oligarchs who made billions from sketchy means.
Yes, Zelensky stayed in Kiev when we all know that 99% of American politicians would have fled for their life. Bravery does not mean someone is a good leader.
