Zelenskyy and his wife Olena paying their respect by laying flowers at the Wall of Remembrance during Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv on Aug 24. — AFP
OLENA Semykina, the owner of a village shop in east Ukraine, voted for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy five and a half years ago, hoping the fresh-faced political newcomer would end the fighting unleashed by Russian proxy forces in 2014.
The screech of an artillery shell over her leafy village in the war-battered Donetsk region and the plumes of dark smoke billowing on the horizon suggest that her hopes for his first term have fallen short.
“We expected the war to end, like he promised. But the war hasn’t ended. There’s even more fighting. It seems to me that it’s become even more intense,” said the 43-year-old in the village of Kleban-Byk, where invading Russian forces are fast approaching.
Across the industrial Donetsk region some war-fatigued residents, like Olena who voted for Zelenskyy in 2019, have lost faith in the 46-year-old leader as Russia’s invasion grinds through its third year.
The former comedian won respect internationally and drew comparisons with Winston Churchill when he stayed in Kyiv in February 2022 to lead his country in a David-versus-Goliath battle against Russian forces.
But in recent interviews, Donetsk residents blamed him for failing to prevent the full-scale invasion in the first place, for daily speeches that felt empty or for being out of touch with Ukrainians living near the front lines.
Donetsk has been partially controlled by Russian proxy forces since they wrested control over swathes of the industrial territory in 2014.
Zelenskyy swept to victory five years later, promising to end the bitter fighting and stamp out systemic corruption among Soviet-style political elites.
Polling in September 2019 – just months after his inauguration – showed the former TV star was riding high with around 80% approval ratings.
Those figures plummeted before Russia invaded in 2022, but skyrocketed to around 90% as Russian missiles began raining down on Ukrainians.
Now his ratings are falling precipitously again, standing at 55%, according to polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
“To be honest, I don’t listen to him at all anymore. It’s pointless. I don’t believe in anything he says. He talks a lot but does little,” said Vadim, a miner in Selydove, another Donetsk-region town in Russia’s sights.
“You have to be here to understand what’s going on here and how people live,” added the 42-year-old, who earlier sent his family to Kyiv for safety from Russian bombardments.
Zelenskyy’s first five-year term officially ended earlier this year.
Under martial law, Kyiv cannot host elections, which would anyway face myriad obstacles with millions of Ukrainians abroad, living under Russian occupation or near active hostilities.
KIIS polling suggested that least 70% of Ukrainians oppose holding any ballot with the war raging – but there is still a clear appetite for change, said the institute’s executive director Anton Grushetsky.
“It is obvious that the request from ordinary Ukrainians is for more and more competent, decent people to hold the most important government positions,” he wrote in an analytical note alongside the poll findings.
Some in Donetsk are more sympathetic to Zelenskyy and his bid to unite Ukrainians and Kyiv’s allies abroad to end the largest war in Europe since World War II.
Zelenskyy has persuaded sceptical Western leaders to send advanced battle tanks and F-16 fighter jets for his military, put Ukraine on the path to European Union membership and rallied dozens of countries behind his vision for ending the war.
At a military field hospital near Pokrovsk, an army doctor who identified himself as Lyubystok praised Zelenskyy for having remained at the helm as Russian forces were gunning for the capital in February 2022.
“This is very strong, very right and deserves respect,” said the 26-year-old before rushing to aid bloodied servicemen brought from the nearby front.
In Novogrodivka, a mining town that is falling under Russian control, businesswoman Iryna Cherednychenko, said Zelenskyy is a “good man” and admires him for making several visits to her frontline region.
The 62-year-old also voted for Zelenskyy but said she is disappointed that corruption remains a problem and that the Cabinet and Parliament should step up to strengthen the rule of law.
“We expected him to have a very professional team but our expectations were not met,” Cherednychenko said, the sounds of distant shelling echoing out.
“Corruption, the irresponsibility of the authorities and weak laws are finishing us off. People lost faith,” she said, adding that officials in Kyiv are out of touch with soldiers and civilians impacted by fighting.
Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said Ukrainian presidents generally lose support in their first year and Ukrainians as a whole tend to distrust state and political institutions.
He said that while Zelenskyy’s rating would likely never rebound, there is more the president can do on some domestic issues, particularly corruption.
“Zelenskyy now needs to think not about ratings, but about how to save the country and get it out of the war with the least losses,” Fesenko added.
“In any case, he will remain in Ukrainian history as one of the most striking and unusual political figures.” — AFP
