Zelenskyy, Mobilization, and Lies: why president has different rhetoric for Western and local audiences.
Marina Daniluk-Yarmolaeva investigates.
Volodymyr Zelensky has different rhetoric for Western and local audiences. For the latter, he can get away with anything.
An interesting quote from a press conference with Scholz about mobilization:
“As for mobilization, I look at it very soberly because mobilization has been ongoing since the first day of the war. I see that this is an issue in society. Of course, it’s not the first day of the war, but if we want to preserve the state, we need to defend it.”
Look how he’s singing now! But what was happening for many months when the president assured that mobilization was not timely? “Zaluzhny demands to mobilize half a million people, but I don’t see the need.” And finally — “we don’t have the money to mobilize civilians because of the economy.”
Then came the PR about the so-called audit. Supposedly, there’s no need to mobilize half a million people anymore, thanks to Syrskyi. However, it later turned out that aviation technicians and cyber specialists were being drafted into assault units, which is not very okay. But who pays attention to that?
Mr. Zelensky’s professional inadequacy as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, his constant gaslighting of Ukrainian society, and his hate towards the Armed Forces of Ukraine led to the failure of mobilization last year. Here, I will quote MP and military officer Roman Kostenko to understand the scale of the problem: “This May, we managed to mobilize more people than in the last few months combined.” So, during the fierce battles for Avdiivka, mobilizations and rotations were almost nonexistent…
Many people simply relaxed because there are those “born for war” and there are “mama’s boys” And a significant number of healthy men fear going to the military enlistment office more than the Russian occupation.
Although it should be said that the number of people willing to defend their state and home has not decreased significantly compared to 2022. Sociology confirms this. But people need clear rules, demobilization timelines, and answers to the question of whether there will be any rotations at all.
These answers are lacking, creating fertile ground for manipulation and real Russian psychological operations — real ones, not just those that the «green» government dislikes.
TikTok and anonymous Telegram channels are full of flashy videos from bushes near enlistment offices. There was a recent blockbuster from Odesa. I had to watch a lot of interviews and videos from participants to understand the problem. The issue is not with the enlistment offices themselves, but with the lack of clear rules, explanations, and reservation procedures. When a medic from the famous Odesa video says that due to the lack of reservations, there might not be any paramedics or ambulance drivers left in the city — this is a government problem.
What has the government been doing for the third year of the war is a big question.
When the conditional Yuliya Svyrydenko comes out and says that women need to learn the profession of tractor drivers because the men are at the front, I have a troubling feeling that this lady has never seen how a tractor-combine operator works in clayey soil with steep slopes. Physical strength is required there. And most importantly — good technical knowledge.
When the Kyiv metro officially says, “Citizens, we apologize — our drivers, turners, and fitters have been mobilized, so intervals may be increased,” this is also a question for the government. And why is some bookmaker’s office employee more important than those who ensure the smooth movement of millions of citizens daily?
Go further . I am very concerned about the increasing violence and hatred towards servicemen involved in mobilization. Grenades thrown into yards, knife attacks. In Dnipro, some “people’s avengers” burned a random military vehicle that had nothing to do with the enlistment office. This is especially striking because, believe me, volunteers will be the ones buying a new vehicle.
Question: Why has there been no evening address from the president regarding acts of aggression, misunderstandings, and fears of Ukrainian citizens? Why hasn’t there been an official condemnation of grenade attacks and stabbings, and insults towards real veterans like “why didn’t you die in Bakhmut? Why should my husband fight?”
Zelensky always finds time to comment on drunken parties, Usyk’s fights, Eurovision. But he hasn’t taken the time to explain the need for mobilization to Ukrainians, not to Scholz. And finally, to responsibly as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief sort out the difficulties of mobilization — to organize reservations not for “their own,” a la Kinokit and the single telethon, but for truly critical infrastructure.
Zelensky must remember that questions of defeat, unjust peace, and loss of territories will be addressed primarily to him. And I don’t envy the person who sneered at the stadium about “Turchynov lost Crimea.” If we lose this war, one person on Bankova will be the target. And I’m not sure that in this matter, his high-ranking friend in a rumpled pajama will save him.
Tags: mobilization peace summit russia ukraine war Ukraine Ukraine government Volodymyr Zelenskyy
