In an interview with the Washington Post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had not disclosed the information he received about the Russian invasion plan. These announcements shocked a part of the Ukrainian population, which did not hesitate to criticize the president.
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SElon RFI, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently facing criticism from the public after his statements in Washington Post columns about the Russian invasion. He said earlier this week that he had decided not to warn his people of the impending invasion to guarantee the country’s economic stability and avoid a mass exodus.
The head of state also pointed out that if the Ukrainians had known about the Russian plans, they would have apparently fled and the war in Ukraine would have been lost within a week. These announcements are stirring public opinion: after a violent six-month war of abuses, rapes, attacks on civilians and massive property damage, many in Ukraine wonder if it all could have been avoided.
In the face of Zelensky, so far unabated, voices are rising from academics, journalists and some experts, denouncing the leader’s strategy and hiding some political and military information.
Other experts, they are relativistic. Mikhailo Michtenko, an expert on public opinion in Ukraine, explains that many of these criticisms come from a small segment of the population interested in discrediting Zelensky: “That’s why many journalists and all bloggers are associated with the opposition,” he says. He analyzed the situation in retrospect and insisted that the president’s popularity rating was high and that these criticisms had little impact on the course of events.
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