Zelensky Is Hurting His Own Wartime Leadership of Ukraine

Five years ago, on May 20, in his passionate inauguration speech, the newly elected Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, proclaimed: “I can assure you that I’m ready to pay any price to stop the deaths of our heroes. . . . I’m ready to lose my fame, my ratings, and if need be — my position to bring peace.”

This May, Zelensky has found himself unable not only to bring peace to the nation but also to prevent a Russian offensive north of the Kharkiv region, where there were no minefields and the solid lines of defense were not fully completed. Enemy breakthroughs had to be stopped at improvised positions, at the price of the blood of many Ukrainian soldiers.

SM

About the Author

Sergey Maidukov

Sergey Maidukov is a Ukrainian writer and the author of Life on the Run: One Family’s Search for Peace in War-Torn Ukraine and Deadly Bonds: Five Years Inside the Ukrainian Mafia, both published in English in 2024.

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Five years ago, on May 20, in his passionate inauguration speech, the newly elected Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, proclaimed: “I can assure you that I’m ready to pay any price to stop the deaths of our heroes. . . . I’m ready to lose my fame, my ratings, and if need be — my position to bring peace.”

This May, Zelensky has found himself unable not only to bring peace to the nation but also to prevent a Russian offensive north of the Kharkiv region, where there were no minefields and the solid lines of defense were not fully completed. Enemy breakthroughs had to be stopped at improvised positions, at the price of the blood of many Ukrainian soldiers.