The Washington Post (WaPo) just dropped another unflattering piece about Ukraine days after its two–part series about why Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive was doomed from the start. This time it amplified the arguments of Ukrainian draft dodgers, of which there have thus far been at least 650,000 according to the EU, right as Zelensky wants more conscripts. The details contained in their piece show that Ukraine is indeed descending into a dystopian dictatorship exactly as Kiev mayor Klitschko claimed.
They started off by informing everyone that “Many bypass military service through the equivalent of medical disabilities, college deferments or family obligations”, which debunks the Mainstream Media’s myth over the past nearly 22 months that everyone wants to fight to ‘defend their homeland’. The outlet then described the dangerous routes that the most desperate among them take to flee abroad, which include risky crossings over rivers, mountains, and inside secret vehicle compartments.
To WaPo’s credit, they also admitted that “The country’s situation has become more precarious after a major counteroffensive stalled, European Union nations fell short on their pledge for artillery shells and Congress has wavered on President Biden’s promise of more aid”, thus confirming the latest perceptions. A professional soldier with the call sign “Dolphin” is then quoted complaining that Ukraine needs more soldiers and criticizing his compatriots for expecting only professional ones like him to do the fighting.
This set the stage for them to report that “interviews with draft-age Ukrainians suggest that many are less than eager to fight for a military and national government that is viewed as rife with corruption and incompetence.” Zelensky had earlier claimed that Russian spies inside the country, including those that National Security Council chief Danilov said had infiltrated the SBU before backtracking, are orchestrating a “Maidan 3” against him. WaPo, however, just suggested that anti-government sentiment is legitimate.
The article gets worse for the Ukrainian leader after readers learn that a 20-year-old resident of the capital shared “stories he has heard from friends in the ranks about insufficient training and endemic corruption”. While just a single young man’s opinion, it’s presented as reflecting the way in which average folks view that institution. Far from being a “de facto NATO army” like Foreign Minister Kuleba recently described it as, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are still obviously beset with serious problems.
WaPo then quotes a draft dodger who “said he left because he thinks that wartime Ukraine has become as repressive as Russia, and that out of desperation for fighters, men were practically being snatched off the streets…He, too, complained about corruption, saying that ordinary Ukrainians are fighting and dying while ‘members of parliament’ and other elites cruise around in Mercedes and other fancy cars.” This adds credence to the observation that anti-government sentiment is legitimate and rapidly growing.
All told, their piece tacitly contradicts Zelensky’s speculation that Russian spies inside the country are orchestrating a “Maidan 3” against him while also undercutting his latest conscription drive, which collectively serve to impede his efforts to cling to power in the face of rising challenges to his rule. As Ukraine braces for a possible Russian counteroffensive instead of recommencing peace talks with a view towards pragmatically freezing the conflict as soon as possible, he’ll need as much meat as he can get.
The more forcefully that conscription is carried out, the more intense and widely spread anti-government sentiment will become, with this in turn emboldening his rivals – first among them Zaluzhny – to seriously consider a power play upon realizing how popular one would be in those circumstances. The only way to avert that regime change scenario in the absence of abandoning the aforesaid policy is to order the SBU to crack down on his rivals, though this runs the risk of provoking large-scale protests.
Zelensky is therefore placing himself into a dilemma as a result of what one of his unnamed senior aides told Time Magazine in late October is the Ukrainian leader’s messianic delusion of maximum victory over Russia, which accounts for him doubling down on conscription instead of recommencing peace talks. Even WaPo, which is read by many US policymakers, believes that this is the wrong decision as proven by their latest article. If he doesn’t change course soon, then he might accelerate his own political demise.
