Zelenskyy obtained a law degree but pursued a career in entertainment. He announced his candidacy in 2019 and won the presidential election in a landslide victory. The first acts of his government were to remove immunity for members of parliament and to crack down on corruption. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy stayed to fight, and what a fight it has been.
Zelenskyy has proven that the underdog can topple the mighty. Nobody thought Ukraine would last more than 2 weeks, but here it is more than 3 years later, and even without the US, I am sure Zelenskyy can hold “the willing” together to beat Putin. As Russians start infighting and blaming different factions for their poor outcomes the cracks will widen and sections will break away. Russia may be able to finance its war for many more years but the people of Russia will turn on their master when taxes and inflation go up to unacceptable levels. Different regions, especially Siberia and the Far Eastern areas will start to break away from Moscow. They do not want to fight in Putin’s war.
Recent event this week (June 2/25) has shown just how well Ukraine is doing. In a single attack they managed to take out some 40 aircraft. Bombers, air refuelers and an A50 AWAC which makes 3 destroyed by Ukraine, leaving only 2-4 A50 planes airworthy. This last drone strike may have even taken out a nuclear submarine. The other prime targets as usual with drones was to blind the Russians by taking out a massive radar station and many others.
Putin is nowhere close to talking about peace because he can not. The Russian economy is now fully engaged in its war effort and if peace happened Russia would collapse. The military spending is the only thing keeping things going in Russia. Almost all other sectors of the economy except oil production have switched over to making what the military needs. So if Ukraine falls who will be next– the Baltic States looks very likely and they know it.
image sources
- Volodymyr_Zelenskyy_voted_in_parliamentary_elections_(2019-07-21)_05: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Volodymyr_Zelenskyy_voted_in_parliamentary_elections_(2019-07-21)_05.jpg