How Russia is undermining support for Zelenskyy in Ukraine | DW News

How Russia is undermining support for Zelenskyy in Ukraine | DW News

now Ukraine and Vladimir zelensky’s term in office would be ending today if Russia had not invaded elections have been suspended while martial laws enforced but Russia’s been trying to undermine popular support for the Ukrainian president by running a social media campaign for fresh elections the outbreak of War February 2022 vmir zalinski a former comedian with no previous political experience before becoming president president thrust into the role of wartime leader a nation in shock warmed quickly to his leadership my dear ukrainians I am again talking to you just like I promised I will provide you with updated and verified information every hour his approval rating shot up to 90% far above its pre-war Peak two years on however many here are fed up a year ago there were hopes for a counter offensive that would drive Russia out of Ukraine but now there’s no end to the war in sight tens of thousands of soldiers have died and the Frontline barely moved until recent Russian advances the government has passed an unpopular conscription law to get more recruits all that has cost the government credibility solinsky’s approval rating slipped to about 69% in the latest reputable poll from February of this year significantly higher than leaders in the US France and in Germany but a worrying sign for the government no elections can legally happen until martial law ends but Russia has allegedly seized on the fact that solinsky’s term would be over this month to mount a social media campaign like with these social media memes this one says traitors zalinski and poroshenko in jail we demand elections and this one 90% of people are against you running for a second term seninsky is portrayed as being confused asking who is against him things are not necessarily so Bleak for zalinski though a recent poll cited by BBC’s Ukraine service found 70% of ukrainians don’t want elections while the war is going on despite Russian propaganda efforts so much thanks DW spoke to people in the Capitol keev about it and found mixed feelings we have the enemy on our doorstep holding elections is going to cause division I don’t want elections right now because of the war I’m happy with our president and don’t have anything to criticize him for right now it’s just not the right time for elections I believe it’s wrong to forbid the people to have their say even during wartime there are so many people fighting in the front lines it just wouldn’t be possible physically if we have elections it will cost lost a lot of money money that we don’t have for drones and ammunition so far there’s been no push from ordinary ukrainians or official pressure from Ukraine’s allies or even the political opposition to hold a new vote so zalinski seems secure in his job for now but that might change without signs of tangible progress in a war that might drag on for years to come well yenia krauk is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament for president zin’s servant of the people party welcome to DW um so what is the the reasoning behind um not holding any elections now that President zelinsky’s 5-year term has ended well of course the the main reason is the legal reason because uh under the uh legislation on martial law uh no elections can be held and uh right now we have martial law on the whole territory of uh Ukraine it’s not just because uh we have more than 1,000 um mile or kilometers uh lawn uh uh the front line the fighting line actually uh but also uh the constant missile attack on the whole territory uh of Ukraine but also um the millions of people who are abroad and uh the organization of this process even abroad um is impossible due to the uh this huge uh numbers so uh all of it comes uh also to the Constitution Constitution the um article 108 clearly states that uh the president uh the current president is acting uh be before you know the inauguration of the next president or if the same one is elected comes so basically it shows that it it can’t be um um you know U it has on until the elections until the end of of Martial law and and is the retention of Martial law backed by the the whole of parliament are there MPS who believe that um democracy uh trumps an invasion uh we have a a consensus among the political parties and actually uh the political parties that are in the parliament signed uh a document uh saying the memorandum right saying that no elections um can be organized uh before the end of the fullscale war uh and it concerns not just the president but also Parliament elections uh it will be five years of parliament um um term in in this August in 2024 so it’s it is a consensus and uh you clearly showed this campaigns that false disinformation campaigns coming from Russia um even if uh they are in Ukrainian language it’s clearly the disinformation from Russia um and the aim is very clear they uh Russians want to uh undermine the unity you know to break the resilience and uh they couldn’t do it in 2022 now uh they’re using this uh trying to show that there are some tensions among the ukrainians but ukrainians in the social um polls say that uh the elections cannot uh be uh um organized and should not organized during the war so all elections should be organized after the end of the war thank you for joining us Ukrainian lawmaker you hadia krauk thank you thank you let’s look at this with Kira rudik who is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and leader of the opposition hollus party welcome back to DW um I was speaking to a Ukrainian lawmaker from president zelinsky’s party a little earlier today and she told me there was consensus among amongst the political parties backing martial law at the moment and therefore precluding elections I thought it might be useful to just check what with an opposition lawmaker like yourself hello Phil thank you so much for having me well it is indeed true we have a consensus to put our political Ambitions aside and concentrate on one the most important goal for our country to win the war and this is what we have been doing since the day one of the full Invasion and I think we’ve been pretty successful in remaining United throughout political forces in Ukraine because there is something bigger than us bigger than our political aims to keep the country United and to ensure that we physically survive and win in this um in the war that um is really historic one and but isn’t democracy bigger than all of that the Britain and the United States both held uh elections during the the Second World War uh I agree with you that the democracy is the most important and this is why why we are as a democratic country we are obeying to the major law that is in our constitution uh which is a democratic Constitution and it clearly says no elections during the war time and feel even if we wanted to do it I honestly cannot imagine how we would do the elections during the wartime first and foremost given that we have a major amount of people fighting at the front and I think it’s the most important and the most fair to allow them to exercise on their Democratic right not only to elect but also to be elected and until we have no way of doing it of allowing them to exercise this right there could not be even a talk about the Democratic elections and how therefore do you counter Russian claims that President zalinski lacks Democratic legitimacy uh given that there has been no election in your country for 5 years well first of all we know that this is a part of Russian propaganda to attack our unity and ability to operate as a state and second it’s very easy for me because I voted for the martial law uh at the first day of the full scale Invasion where it is clearly saying that there are no elections during the war time and the president is sitting until the next elections are are being held so we know what we have done and we know that it is for the best of our country so as a parliamentary presidential Republic we continue to operate as the Democracy according to the rules thank you so much for talking us through that so clearly Ukrainian lawmaker Kira Rudy thank you and glory to Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s term in office would be ending if Russia had not invaded Ukraine. Elections are suspended while martial law is in force. But Russia has been trying to undermine popular support for Zelenskyy by running a social media campaign for fresh elections.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro and report
03:26 Yevheniia Kravchuk, Member of Ukrainian Parliament
06:43 Kira Rudik, Member of Ukrainian Parliament

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