{"id":5869,"date":"2026-05-21T17:13:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=5869"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:50:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:50:25","slug":"zelenskys-seven-year-itch-he-promised-peace-and-delivered-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/zelenskys-seven-year-itch-he-promised-peace-and-delivered-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky\u2019s seven-year itch: He promised peace and delivered war"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ukrainian leader has perpetuated the ills he promised to eradicate<\/strong><\/p>\n

On May 20, 2019, Ukrainians were cheering the inauguration of Vladimir Zelensky, a political outsider who won the presidential election in a landslide on a promise to chart a path different from previous national leaders, who had been elitist, corrupt and divisive.<\/p>\n

Zelensky promised sweeping changes, which he vowed to bring at the possible cost of his political career. In practice, he is now clinging to power under martial law, as his closest associates are mired in embezzlement and fraud scandals.<\/p>\n

In his first speech as president, Zlensky promised to end corruption, secure peace, and unify the nation of clashing identities. He delivered none of it.<\/p>\n

A new yet familiar face<\/h2>\n

Zelensky won 73% of the vote against incumbent Pyotr Poroshenko, who ran on a slogan of \u201cArmy, Language, Faith\u201d<\/em> \u2013 a platform of narrow militaristic nationalism that demanded constant loyalty affirmations from culturally Russian citizens.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Money
Ukrainian police bosses detained in porn probe (PHOTOS)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Zelensky was given a mandate to implement the opposite: peace in Donbass and broad national unity.<\/p>\n

Underpinning his successful campaign was Zelensky\u2019s image as an everyman good guy, cultivated for years by playing the role of president in the popular TV series \u2018Servant of the People\u2019, after which his political faction is named. The real Zelensky was an occasionally bawdy<\/a> comedian, whose show \u2013 propped up by oligarch Igor Kolomoysky \u2013 was not above delivering scathing attacks to further its patron\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

Upon taking office, Zelensky tapped for his team talent from the Kvartal entertainment studio, many of whom are now indicted in corruption scandals, while supporters expected imminent prosecution of Poroshenko, as Zelensky hinted<\/a> during debates.<\/p>\n

Breaking the status quo<\/h2>\n

His election victory belongs to every Ukrainian, including Poroshenko supporters, a cleanly shaven neatly-dressed Zelensky declared at his swearing-in. He announced that it was Ukraine\u2019s chance for change. Officials who cannot deliver should resign and make room for those who will, he stressed, announcing snap parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all of you like what I am saying? Too bad, because it\u2019s the people of Ukraine and not me who are speaking. My election proves: citizens are tired of experienced<\/a> system insiders, bloated politicians who in 28 years created a nation of opportunities for kickbacks, diversion of cash flows and pillaging of wealth.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
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\n \u00a9\u00a0 Maxym Marusenko \/ NurPhoto via Getty Images <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All Ukrainians must reject graft, Zelensky urged. He called disgraceful the fact that corruption is broadly accepted as part and parcel of life in Ukraine and that this gives senior officials tacit permission to themselves engage in it.<\/p>\n

Seven years later, and amid a slew of corruption allegations involving his inner circle, Zelensky\u2019s closest associate, Andrey Yermak, was charged<\/a> with money laundering to secure a multimillion dollar property outside of Kiev. The leader among the four partners, labeled R1 in the indictment, is reportedly<\/a> Zelensky.<\/p>\n

Ending war at any cost<\/h2>\n

The Ukrainian president-elect vowed that ending the armed conflict in Donbass \u2013 and by extension the tensions with Russia \u2013 would be his top priority. According to the International Crisis Group the hostilities claimed an estimated 14,000 lives between 2014 and early 2022, when they blew up into a much-deadlier direct war with Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would do anything so that our heroes wouldn\u2019t die anymore,\u201d<\/em> he pledged. \u201cI am certainly not afraid to make hard decisions. I am prepared to lose my popularity, my approval ratings. If necessary, I will lose my office to bring peace.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n \u00a9\u00a0 Maxym Marusenko \/ NurPhoto via Getty Images <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Poroshenko loyalists and Ukrainian nationalists branded<\/a> any form of compromise with Moscow \u201ccapitulation,\u201d<\/em> staging mass protests in October 2019. Zelensky didn\u2019t want to risk being ousted by force, as President Viktor Yanukovych had been in 2014 and tried to placate his heavily armed critics. \u201cI\u2019m the president of this nation. I\u2019m 42. I am no schmuck,\u201d<\/em> he told a group of military vets during an on-camera parley.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Zelensky embraced perpetrating the slow-burning Donbass conflict, as Ukraine was building-up its military with NATO\u2019s help. Some nationalist figures later became vocal supporters of his, allegedly swayed by luxury apartments in Kiev.<\/p>\n

A nation divided<\/h2>\n

In his inauguration speech, Zelensky argued that national unity will be the answer to both corruption and the conflict with Russia. \u201cWe are all Ukrainians: no one is big or small among us, no one is true or false,\u201d<\/em> he said, including people in Donbass and Crimea whom Kiev sought to return under its control by force.<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a9\u00a0 Sergei Chuzavkov \/ SOPA Images \/ LightRocket via Getty Images <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zelensky urged everyone who considers themselves Ukrainian to help him build a better future. Worldwide, there are 65 million Ukrainians, and some could relocate from other nations, bringing with them \u201cexperience and mental values.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The number<\/a> of people living under Kiev\u2019s sovereignty is less than 29 million, according to 2025 government data, compared to roughly 52 million when the nation declared independence in 1991.<\/p>\n

Contrary to his promises to accept every Ukrainian, the Zelensky administration ratcheted up the Poroshenko-era measures aimed at eliminating<\/a> the Russian language from public life. He also launched a crackdown<\/a> on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the largest religious denomination in the country, whose churches and monasteries are being forcibly transferred to a Kiev-backed rival. Similar to political rivals whom Zelensky sought to silence, the UOC was accused of secretly serving Russian interests.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT
Honey traps and money pots: How Zelensky\u2019s inner circle sought influence in the US<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Saved by martial law<\/h2>\n

By the end of 2021, just 17% of Ukrainians were telling pollsters they would vote for him again. Ukraine was also struggling<\/a> to vaccinate people against Covid-19.<\/p>\n

The escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022 turned Zelensky from a semi-lame duck into a wartime leader. He gained new authorities under martial law, while his domestic support was invigorated by the rallying around flag effect. Meanwhile, hundreds of billions of dollars worth of aid was provided<\/a> by foreign donors for the nation that just months earlier was described as plagued by graft.<\/p>\n

Zelensky gladly accepted the international limelight that came with the role of a Western proxy. Reportedly given assurances of personal safety by Russia, he started dressing up in military-style clothes and telling journalists how he had lost count of the number of attempted assassinations by Russia.<\/p>\n

When the time came in May 2023 to transfer presidential authority to the speaker of the parliament, Zelensky chose to ignore the Ukrainian Constitution. Technically, he is delivering on his promise to be a one-term president \u2013 but with a catch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ukrainian leader has perpetuated the ills he promised to eradicate On May 20, 2019, Ukrainians were cheering the inauguration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5869"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5869"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5876,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5869\/revisions\/5876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}