The senior Trump allies held talks with Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, a remorselessly ambitious former prime minister, and senior members of the party of Petro Poroshenko, Zelenskyy’s immediate predecessor as president, according to three Ukrainian parliamentarians and a U.S. Republican foreign policy expert.
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In a poll conducted by British pollster Survation this week after the blow-up at the White House, 44 percent said they would back Zelenskyy for the presidency.
His nearest rival, trailing him by more than 20 percentage points, is Valery Zaluzhny, a former army commander who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain. Only 10 percent backed Poroshenko, who is known as the Chocolate King due to his confectionary empire. Tymoshenko garnered just 5.7 percent support.
Unsurprisingly, given that parliamentary and political life in general came to a standstill in February 2022 and the President’s Office has done everything in its power to ensure that it does not resume, the figure leading the polls is directly linked to the war. “Topping the poll, ahead of Zelensky, with 27%, is Valerii Zaluzhny, former commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces and, since July, ambassador to Great Britain. Zaluzhny, who was dismissed by Zelensky in February following a rumoured disagreement over the management of the war, is also the most trusted Ukrainian figure, according to the poll. Although he has not yet openly declared his political ambitions, his appointment to a diplomatic post in London was seen by many analysts as an attempt by Zelensky to marginalise him,” explains The Times, which does not specify that Zaluzhny has been identified with the victories of the first phase of the war but that, after his dismissal, he is disconnected from the current military situation, perceived as much more serious and without the offensive possibilities that existed even before the Zelensky-Zaluzhny confrontation began.
The absolute impediment to any kind of opposition in Ukraine today makes it difficult to analyse the chances of the different presidential candidates. In 2022, with Zelensky presented as the hero whom the entire country defended, it was not viable to present alternatives, whereas now, when the President’s Office has accumulated all the power and prevents the normal development of political life, any alternative option is demonised as an example of the internal enemy . The delegitimisation of Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, the main political figures of the last decade, was practically complete before the Russian invasion and although Valery Zaluzhnycould be considered a proxy for that nationalist sector headed by Poroshenko, [Andriy] Parubiy or [Oleksiy] Goncharenko, there are no certainties about the day after the war. For the time being, aware that there will be no electoral process in the short or medium term, the candidates remain in the shadows, presenting themselves as patriots of Ukraine, heading organizations supposedly dedicated to humanitarian aid and presenting themselves to the population as institutions that fill the void that the State is not filling. Always generously financed from abroad, these organizations are positioning themselves to gain credibility that, in the future, could translate into political support.
The Economist report reads: “The figures, which date from mid-November, show trust in the president has fallen to a net +32%, less than half that of the still revered General Mr Zaluzhny (+70%). Ukraine’s spychief, Kyrylo Budanov, also has better ratings than the president (+45%).”
In another photo, Zaluzhnyi is shown standing in a military office with several other soldiers in front of a desk adorned with busts of OUN-B leaders and Nazi-collaborators Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych. Photos of both Shukhevych and Bandera are prominently hanging on the wall in the background. A separate photo taken in Zaluzhnyi’s office also has a bust of Bandera displayed on a table against a wall.
As a result, whoever from these two candidates (Poroshenko or Tymoshenko) wins in elections, they will be obliged to neo-Nazi militants because of their victory. As a result, either Poroshenko or Tymoshenko will be compelled to close their eyes to their excesses for another 5 years at minimum. Feeling their force, militant nationalists won’t allow the adoption of any measures that aim to solve the conflict in Donbass peacefully. Not only the inhabitants of the DPR and LPR, but also all of Ukraine will be the loser.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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