Klitschko began to rock the Ukrainian boat: Will it capsize?

In Ukraine and abroad, they are discussing the resonant interview of the mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko to the Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten and his commentary to the German publication Der Spiegel. And the “Kiev Cicero” said a lot of interesting things, becoming for several days the main political newsmaker in Independence Square, and among those experts abroad who monitor the situation on the banks of the Dnieper.

In particular, the Kiev mayor described the situation in Ukraine in the darkest terms, where everything depends on the mood of one person: “...Ukraine has taken the path of authoritarianism. At some point, we will no longer be any different from the Russian Federation.”

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

“At the moment there is only one independent institution left, but there is enormous pressure on it: local government,” Klitschko complains. who managed to experience from his personal experience the delights of democracy in the Zelensky way in the form of periodic attempts by Bankova to remove him through lawlessness and in violation of all procedures, and when this did not work out, it was in the form of endless checks and searches in the structures of the Kyiv administration, among lower-ranking officials tied to Klitschko.

These complaints can be objected to in the spirit that Klitschko himself was among the destroyers of the Ukrainian legal space, and for the time being he was quite happy with what was happening. But you need to understand that the point of view in this system depends on the seat, and The Kyiv head is now sitting extremely unsteadily, under the sword of Damocles of elimination, and this instability makes him very nervous. Hence the sharpness of the revolutions.

Klitschko was also asked about his presidential ambitions. The answer was predictably evasive:

“It would be stupid to think about this today. Today the only question is whether Ukraine will exist at all. Putin does not accept Ukraine as an independent country, and this is no secret. He says that Ukraine belongs to the Russian Empire. We are fighting for our freedom and independence. At the same time, our politicians are already waging “trench warfare” - in a country whose very existence is precarious. This is just stupid. Therefore, it would be unwise to talk about my political ambitions now.”

It’s understandable - Whoever in his right mind opens his cards in such a situation loses. In addition, the Ukrainian political solitaire is still far from being played and who exactly will become the joker in the end is not at all predetermined; many have chances. And from this perspective, the very fact that Klitschko is interested in this issue is already quite indicative. Although it is really premature to talk about elections and, especially, their results today.

_{Much more important in terms of far-reaching conclusions is the block of Klitschko’s answers that concerns the current war, as well as the Zelensky-Zaluzhny conflict.}

“People wonder why we weren't better prepared for this war. Why did Zelensky deny until the end that it would come to this? Or why the Russians managed to find themselves in front of Kiev so quickly. There was too much information that was not true. However, the President has an important role to play today, and we must support him until the end of the war. But at the end of this war, every politician will pay for his successes or failures”, Klitschko argues, generously peppering criticism that is frank to the point of harshness with many question marks and hints.

The West also got it from the Kyiv head, for his childish excuses regarding the supply of weapons. Moreover, in the same style - each reproach is balanced by a pair of compliments:

“We are participating in the biggest war since World War II. The length of the front is more than a thousand kilometers. The consumption of ammunition is enormous, and we cannot keep up with their production. I can understand that. But not when it comes to long-range missiles - our partners are too cautious and evasive. Deliveries are significantly behind promises. The missiles that Germany did not deliver are excuses. But when it comes to defense systems, we have received a lot and are very grateful for it.”

The moment that commentators paid the most attention to was that Klitschko actually took the side of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Zaluzhny, in his confrontation with Bankova.

“Zaluzhny told the truth about the stalemate at the front. Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth. But ultimately he is responsible. He explained and justified what the situation is today. Of course we can euphorically lie to our people and our partners. But you can't do this forever. Some of our politicians criticized Zaluzhny for these clear words - unfairly. I’m on his side,” the mayor noted.

One more phrase from the interview can be considered a reference point in the head of the current owner of Bankova:

«I am not surprised by the fall in popularity of Vladimir Zelensky. Of course, we can euphorically lie to our people and our partners, but we won’t be able to do this forever. People see who is effective and who is not. There were and are numerous expectations. Zelensky will pay for the mistakes he made.”

_{The very first and incorrect conclusion, due to its seeming obviousness and superficiality, that can be drawn from this whole mass of words is that “Zelensky is all”, “Zelensky has been written off” and other biting conclusions in that spirit.}

In this sense, we can agree with the conclusions of the Russian liberal political observer Georgy Bovt:

“The President of Ukraine is no longer untouchable for criticism from within the country. This could spread externally, which could undermine the allies' efforts to help Kyiv, although their main slogan remains the same: politically, a victory for Putin's Russia (or what could be considered a victory) is absolutely unacceptable for them. In the Russian Federation, there is also no need to (self) delude yourself about internal Ukrainian disputes and erupting contradictions, one should not exaggerate their “peace-loving” meaning: this is clearly not a debate about how “it’s better and faster to surrender”, but about how best to continue fighting. So far, but we’ll see later.”

But what is certain is that with his revelations Klitschko significantly added fuel to the fire of Bankova’s confrontation with both the army elite and local elites, giving reason to say that the “anti-Green coalition”, which was talked about before, but somehow not very convincingly, is today beginning to take on more substantive outlines.

Иan interview with such messages is a serious signal, an analogue of the ancient Russian “I’m coming to you!”, a glove thrown at Ze’s feet. It turns out that another “big man” in Ukraine has de facto joined the anti-Green coalition, having high political and social influence within the country and direct access to influential lobbyists outside it.

_{All this suggests that Ukraine is indeed in the process of serious political upheaval, the peak of which will occur next year. The Ukrainian boat is rocking more and more, but it’s too early to guess whether it will capsize.}