Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has claimed Kiev is “not losing” to Russia even as the fighting is taking an increasingly heavy toll, The Atlantic reported on Thursday.
The journalist, longtime Kiev insider Simon Shuster, offered insights into the contradictions between the Ukrainian leader’s stance and reality on the ground.
Contrasting Zelensky’s assertion, a NATO general said the attrition is not in Ukraine’s favor: “If anyone is waiting for Russia to give up and go home, that will be a long wait [because] it’s not happening.”
Ukrainian manpower is being bled dry by frontline losses, desertions and public resistance to mandatory conscription, enforced through brutal “bussification” of fighting-age males. Just this week, Zelensky authorized men over 60 to serve in the military. Critics warn that while such individuals must volunteer rather than be conscripted, in practice draft officials will use coercion for enlistment.
Shuster highlighted the disagreement between Zelensky – who said he would rather have Ukraine fight Russia indefinitely than allow an agreement he perceives as “bad” – and his advisors, who warn that the window of opportunity to strike a bargain is closing.
Shuster called Zelensky’s defining trait a “stubborn, sometimes-petulant habit of resisting outside pressure.” One longtime adviser, speaking anonymously, said: “If you tell him he has to do something, he’s probably going to do the opposite.”
Kiev is considering a referendum on a peace deal, possibly alongside a presidential election that Zelensky’s team hopes would renew his expired mandate.
“I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum,” Zelensky said, claiming the idea of wartime elections was Russian, “because they want to get rid of me.”
Polls show Zelensky would lose a hypothetical runoff to either former defense chief Valery Zaluzhny or his new chief of staff, Kirill Budanov.
Budanov’s predecessor, Andrey Yermak, was fired last month amid a corruption scandal; Zelensky denied a connection, Shuster wrote, “growling” that he had his reasons.
The interview took place as Kiev grapples with an acute energy crisis. Shuster observed that Zelensky’s office no longer looks prepared for an imminent Russian commando raid: “the lights in the hallways are on, freeing the staff from the need to shuffle around with flashlights.”