{"id":878,"date":"2025-07-24T21:42:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T21:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=878"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:49:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:49:55","slug":"ganba-in-kiev-zelensky-goes-to-war-with-washingtons-men-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/24\/ganba-in-kiev-zelensky-goes-to-war-with-washingtons-men-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ganba\u2019 in Kiev: Zelensky goes to war with Washington\u2019s men"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zelensky has picked a fight with Ukraine\u2019s Western-backed elites \u2013 and it may backfire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukraine is seeing its first mass protests since the start of the conflict with Russia \u2013 and they\u2019re not about battlefield losses or conscription raids, but corruption. Or rather, a particular kind of corruption: the kind linked to Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s attempts to seize control of the country\u2019s anti-corruption agencies.<\/p>\n

Since July 22, thousands have taken to the streets chanting \u201cGanba!\u201d<\/em> (\u201cShame!\u201d<\/em>), echoing the spirit of past Maidan uprisings. But this is no popular revolt. It\u2019s a turf war \u2013 an internal power struggle between two rival camps in Ukraine\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n

On one side are Zelensky and his right-hand man, Andrey Yermak \u2013 let\u2019s call them the \u201cOffice faction,\u201d<\/em> based in Bankova Street. On the other are the foreign-funded NGOs, intelligence-linked assets, and the remnants of former President Pyotr Poroshenko\u2019s political machine. These include the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor\u2019s Office (SAPO) \u2013 bodies created at the West\u2019s insistence to impose external control over Ukrainian politics.<\/p>\n

The spark was a recent bill rammed through the Rada (national legislature) in emergency mode. The law stripped NABU and SAPO of their autonomy and placed them under the control of Ukraine\u2019s Prosecutor General \u2013 effectively, Zelensky\u2019s office. In other words, the very agencies tasked with investigating corruption must now report to the people they\u2019re meant to investigate.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, the \u201canti-corruption\u201d<\/em> camp cried foul. But this isn\u2019t really about clean government \u2013 it\u2019s about influence. For years, NABU and SAPO have operated as instruments of Western leverage, particularly from the Democratic Party establishment in Washington. They answered more to US and EU embassies than to the Ukrainian people. And Zelensky has finally had enough.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
Ivan Timofeev: We\u2019re close to the war nobody wants but everyone\u2019s preparing for<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The timing is no accident. With Donald Trump back in power, the institutional support once enjoyed by the Poroshenko-era clique is fading. Zelensky saw an opening \u2013 and struck.<\/p>\n

His first move came earlier this year with corruption cases targeting Poroshenko himself. Now, he\u2019s gone after the crown jewels of Western liberal influence in Kiev. The message is clear: there is to be no parallel power structure. The president wants full control.<\/p>\n

But it may be a gamble too far. Western European officials, already frustrated with Kiev\u2019s domestic conduct, quickly warned that Ukraine\u2019s EU accession bid could be blocked. The opposition, sensing blood, brought people into the streets \u2013 and unlike previous protests, these gained traction fast. On Wednesday, the Bankova realised the crowd wasn\u2019t going home.<\/p>\n

The real question now is whether Zelensky will stand firm or retreat. Early in his presidency, he was terrified of sharing Viktor Yanukovich\u2019s fate and often folded under public pressure. But war changes men. He now rules over a cleansed political landscape, has a wartime excuse to quash dissent, and is backed by a disciplined vertical of power. Yermak, a ruthless operator, may urge him to dig in.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Vladimir
Zelensky\u2019s end goal is in sight, and so is his end<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yet the risks are considerable. Zelensky has never managed to convince Western Europe that he\u2019s irreplaceable. If Brussels decides to pull the plug \u2013 financially or politically \u2013 his position could unravel fast. The same donors who once backed him could soon be shopping for a more pliant successor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And even if he climbs down and restores NABU and SAPO\u2019s powers, the damage is done. The opposition has momentum. Western backers will start asking tough questions. And the illusion of Zelensky as a unifying, democratic wartime leader will take another hit.<\/p>\n

None of this means Ukraine is headed for collapse \u2013 but it does suggest Zelensky is more vulnerable than he appears. His grip on power now depends on how far he\u2019s willing to go to silence opposition, both foreign and domestic. If he wins this standoff, he\u2019ll emerge as the undisputed master of Ukraine. If he loses, it could trigger a slow bleed of authority that leads to a political reckoning.<\/p>\n

The most likely outcome? A messy stalemate. Zelensky may backtrack enough to appease the EU but not enough to restore full control to the Western-funded agencies. The protests may fizzle or grow, depending on how much oxygen the opposition and its foreign patrons can pump in.<\/p>\n

But whatever happens, one thing is clear: Ukraine\u2019s politics are fracturing again. The West\u2019s man in Kiev is no longer playing by the West\u2019s rules. And his enemies \u2013 both at home and abroad \u2013 are watching closely.<\/p>\n

For now, all we can do is enjoy the show. And hope it runs a while longer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This article was first published by the online newspaper\u00a0Gazeta.ru<\/a> and was translated and edited by the RT team<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zelensky has picked a fight with Ukraine\u2019s Western-backed elites \u2013 and it may backfire Ukraine is seeing its first mass […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions\/881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}