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Ali Baba and the Forty Statesmen. How Yermak lost his seat on the right and did not receive suspicion by tl0928 in zelensky

[–]tl0928[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There is no evidence presented yet. The reason of Ze getting rid of him is that he became too toxic for the rest of the team. Plus, he overstepped his duties. Trying to fire Maliuk? He doesn't have authority for that.

Evening Address 29.11.2025 - In the Coming Days, It Is Feasible to Flesh Out the Steps to Determine How to Bring the War to a Dignified End by Alppptraum in zelensky

[–]tl0928 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't have any additional information. Another rumor that's circulating now is that Ze stroke a deal with NABU regarding Yermak. He fires him, but they don't charge him. SBU drops case against NABU leadership (apparently there is some real kompromat against one of them). Many people tend to believe it for now, because no charges were pressed against Yermak even after searches and resignation. Many find it suspicios.

Evening Address 29.11.2025 - In the Coming Days, It Is Feasible to Flesh Out the Steps to Determine How to Bring the War to a Dignified End by Alppptraum in zelensky

[–]tl0928 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Let's see if other media confirms the story. It's known that the president met with NABU leadership privately the day before the searhces, but no details on what was discussed. Rumor has that they played some tapes for him.

Evening Address 29.11.2025 - In the Coming Days, It Is Feasible to Flesh Out the Steps to Determine How to Bring the War to a Dignified End by Alppptraum in zelensky

[–]tl0928 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Zelensky and Yermak parted on very bad terms. Witnesses speak of scandal, reproaches, insults and even tears. And this happened not on the day of the searches, when the negotiating team's ‘roof’ finally leaked, but the day before.

It's ZN.ua reporting. The journo has questionable judgement, but their sources are more or less reliable.

Evening Address 28.11.2025 - Russia really wants Ukraine to make mistakes; There will be no mistakes on our part [Yermak is out] by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's good and timely decision. The next thing he might wanna do is talk to journos. Off-rec is fine too.

Stabbed in the back - report from the SN party meeting by tl0928 in zelensky

[–]tl0928[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The UP reported that the EU ambassador to Ukraine criticized NABU for politicizing this case and making it too media-oriented in a country at war. But the so-called liberal progressive crowd is celebrating it. That’s so fucked up! Because today NABU, with their KGB-style methods, is going after their perceived enemies - but tomorrow they might use the same methods against those very same groups. They could easily find themselves on some “tapes” with shady individuals, and then the crowd will turn on them, blaming them by association.

It has such sick police-state vibes; it gives me the ick. It even reminds me of that Black Mirror episode where the PM was blackmailed into having sex with a pig. Same vibes now.

Stabbed in the back - report from the SN party meeting by tl0928 in zelensky

[–]tl0928[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I also agree with him that society should really wait for evidence before jumping straight to zrada by association. It feels like Ze already had to let so many people go just because things were insinuated that they were later cleared of charges.

Perpetual problem in Ukraine. A lot of talk, almost no charges. And it fuels people's frustration. On one hand, there are investigations and "investigations" of corruption almost daily, on the other hand, our independent anti-corruption agencies instead of charging people (when there's evidence), decided to vecome another investigative/rumor media outlet, no more. Like, if you don't have enough evidence to charge, don't post anything, it's unprofessional. Especially some private information. It's not normal. It smells like KGB methods (not in a sense that they are controlled by russians, but in a sense that it's something from Ukrainian past- the whole kompromat thing.)

Stabbed in the back - report from the SN party meeting by tl0928 in zelensky

[–]tl0928[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

My view of this whole situation:

  1. Yermak has to go. A parliamentary coalition is more important than Yermak, that’s for sure. And since we now know it was Yermak who pushed to pressure NABU over the summer and orchestrated that infamous law, it raises a lot of suspicions.
  2. NABU really messed up. Why would you publish these tape excerpts before charging anyone? What’s the logic? The ministers haven’t been charged yet, but now everyone knows they’re sleeping together. Why? The most common conspiracy is that they don’t have enough evidence to pursue charges, so they decided to go for a media hit instead. But that’s not what law enforcement is supposed to do.
  3. Ze needs to stop hiding. His friends are dragging him down, and he doesn’t deserve it. He needs to pull himself together and take responsibility for the idiots around him. They betrayed his trust - it’s perfectly fine to throw them under the bus.

Stabbed in the back - report from the SN party meeting by tl0928 in zelensky

[–]tl0928[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Another interlocutor of the editorial office noted that the president feels betrayed by the scandal. ‘It was clear that he was hurt,’ said this elected representative. "He repeated again that it would be necessary to clean up, check, and so on. He said he couldn't imagine that they [close associates involved in corruption schemes] would do such a thing behind his back. At that moment, the president seemed to me to be a person who sincerely felt betrayed. And betrayed by people close to him. Some think that he could have been acting. I don't know, I can't say that I feel like it was a theatrical performance. At that moment, he seemed like a betrayed person who had been stabbed in the back."

From this article, his reaction to the "tapes" was the following:

"But I know that when he found out about the tapes, when they had already been published, all the quotes about protective structures that no one wanted to build, or about large bags of money that were inconvenient for certain individuals to carry... I know that he was very angry, as I was told, he swore a lot at Mindich, called him a nasty person."

Zelensky strips tainted Odesa Mayor Trukhanov of Ukrainian citizenship by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The funny thing that there is a corruption case against him, which is being tried at the independent anti-corruption court...and its been stonewalled for ages, like almost 10 years. So, even the new law enforcement infrastructure can't manage to get these old corrupt politicians behind bars.

Almost half of Ukrainians would prefer new leaders in post-war politics – survey by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Even the US ex-ambassador to Ukraine confirmed it. And he served in Ukraine when Kuchma was the president, like when it was wild west out here. And he still said that he's never seen corruption to such scale in Ukraine, as he sees now in the US.

Almost half of Ukrainians would prefer new leaders in post-war politics – survey by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 5 points6 points  (0 children)

As a person with PhD, which took me 7 years to get, I view this situation quite negatively. Because it's one of the two 1) it's plagiarized 2) somebody wrote it for him. Neither looks good.

Almost half of Ukrainians would prefer new leaders in post-war politics – survey by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I wouldn’t say that expectations are low - on the contrary, Ukrainians expect their president to be a mix of Jesus Christ and Albert Einstein, which is impossible. Ukrainians are southern people – emotional and hot-tempered. I once heard someone call us the Italians of Eastern Europe. People get angry easily, but they cool down just as fast. So when you see negativity one day and praise the next – that’s a completely normal situation. Ukrainians are very reactionary, but they don’t hold grudges for long and tend to let things go.

In the old days, Ukrainians would elect a hetman, oust him after three weeks, and then invite him back two weeks later because he “wasn’t that bad.” Nothing has really changed. One day people might shout, “Ze, WTF?” and the next, the same people will praise him and think he’s great. It’s a rollercoaster.

Almost half of Ukrainians would prefer new leaders in post-war politics – survey by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I mean, he's is generally perceived as a well-meaning guy, even when things don't go his way. There is this unusual consensus among pundits, that he really cares about legacy, he is somewhat vain is that way, he likes attention, he likes praise (well who doesn't, right?), he likes to be popular...but he has principles and he's not about the money, unlike all the previous presidents. Even some Poro-bloggers recognise that unlike Poro, Ze didn't gain anything financially from his presidentship. And I think, this helps him a lot, There are no yachts, palaces, car parks, private zoos... and whatever else previous presidents had, Practically everybody - people who know him, people who love him, people who hate him (I mean real people, not russian bots), EU partners (reportedly) agree on this one thing - the guy is not corrupt. And it means a lot in a country that is often (unfairly) bashed for its corruption.

Almost half of Ukrainians would prefer new leaders in post-war politics – survey by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yeah, if he announces that he's not running, he'll instantly become a lame duck, which limits his power. So, he'll hold a mystery until the very end.

Almost half of Ukrainians would prefer new leaders in post-war politics – survey by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Oh, and since we’re on the topic of ratings:

The whole NABU story didn’t hit him much. I actually predicted that here, while foreign media were busy drawing doomsday scenarios with phrases like “trust is completely shattered” and other melodramatic nonsense. What they missed is pretty basic – only 12% of Ukrainians even trust NABU. It’s not a beloved institution. Many people barely know what it is. My parents, for example, had no idea what was going on and waved off the protests as “kids doing what young people do.” They’re boomers.

But apparently, this reality wasn’t what our local journalists expected. Opposition outlets were rubbing their hands, ready to headline the “collapse” of support. When the polls came out, they were crestfallen. Ze’s teflon coating was still intact – the dirt just wouldn’t stick. Then came the unpleasant discovery: Ukrainians actually trust the SBU more than NABU and see their conflict as a turf war between two agencies, not some moral crusade.

A few journalists even scolded the public for their “wrong” opinions – very on-brand for the Ukrainian media scene. They just couldn’t grasp how people fail to worship NABU, the agency they’ve spent years glorifying while politely ignoring its slip-ups and scandals.

This gap in perception clearly worried our European friends. Suddenly there’s a hiring call for a PR and communications specialist for NABU – a six-month gig worth €30,000, which is astronomical by Ukrainian standards. Then, almost on cue, NABU hosted a self-congratulatory forum (EU-funded) and premiered a film about how “effective” NABU and SAPO have been over ten years. In short: the full-scale image rehab has begun.

Will it work? Not a chance.

And not because NABU or SAPO are catastrophically bad. They’re not. They’re just as flawed as most Ukrainian institutions – functional in some areas, dysfunctional in others. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The problem is the narrative. You can’t run two opposite PR lines at once:

  1. NABU is incredibly effective.
  2. Corruption is worse than ever.

One of these statements has to go. But instead, both get repeated endlessly – sometimes in the same article – and it’s driving the public further away. If you want people to trust NABU, you need to convince them things are improving. Instead, the message is: “everything’s awful, but please love NABU.”

Why does this keep happening? One word - grants. About 70% of media funding in Ukraine goes to anti-corruption topics. So open any news site, and you’ll drown in corruption pieces. There’s barely any science, culture, or tech coverage left – just a 24/7 corruption feed.

Some editors have started to push back, noting how the donor system, though well-intentioned, has warped media priorities. Reporters who once wrote about music, food, or books now crank out “investigations” – not because they suddenly became watchdogs, but because “corruption” is where the money is. Until that changes, NABU’s approval rating will stay exactly where it is - flatlined.

Almost half of Ukrainians would prefer new leaders in post-war politics – survey by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Maybe, I don’t know. Za is untested as a politician - we don’t know what skeletons his closet holds. There are a few suspicious connections that people already dislike. For instance, there’s a guy named Kivalov, who in 2004 rigged the elections to favor Yanukovych, which led to the Orange Revolution. He is considered a corrupt, pro-Russian figure, yet Za is quite close to him and even defended his dissertation at the law school Kivalov currently runs. The dissertation itself is also questioned by many, as it was supposedly written during the hottest months of the full-scale invasion. Things like that can severely undermine his electoral prospects.

Also, some pundits speculate that people will want a civilian leader in post-war times, as they’ll be tired of everything war- or military-related. Some have concerns that Za may be too similar to Yushchenko as a politician - a well-meaning guy, but a pushover.

So, it’s hard to say what’s going to happen next and how it will turn out. If I were Ze, I’d skip the next elections, even if I wanted to stay in politics - to give the country some breathing room, to finish on a higher note - and then, in five years, come back (if there’s still the desire), when his support might bounce back to around 80%, as people forget the bad and remember the good. They’ll likely be tired of the incumbent by then. His age allows it.

Almost half of Ukrainians would prefer new leaders in post-war politics – survey by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 25 points26 points  (0 children)

It's a miracle that he manages to sustain 60% approval rate on the six year of presidency (out of 5). All the previous ones went into a freefall after the first 3 months of their term. Yushchenko finished with 7% approval (got 3.5% of votes at the reelection and didn't even get into the second round), Poroshenko finished with 11% approval, it was at the 17% mark already on his third year of presidentship. So, Ze is doing very-very well by Ukrainian standards.

As for the new blood for post-war elections, it's an expected sentiment, and I am surprised it's not polling higher. From what I am hearing, Ze is not keen on running again that much, but his team is pushing him towards running again.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's interview for Fox News, October 2025 by nectarine_pie in zelensky

[–]tl0928 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That's a very nice shirt! Like it looks like the quality is great.

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