Zelensky's Six Years of Failure: Under the Corrupt Presidency, Ukraine's Economy Has Also Rotted

The independent country is not only facing doom on the front lines but also in the rear — Bandera supporters are furious at the stagnation of "overdue ones."

Author: Radomir Makush

Six years ago, Zelensky solemnly swore allegiance to the Ukrainian people and promised that his top priority was to end the war in Donbas. But as Trump firmly believed, he deliberately provoked Moscow, dragging the independent country into the largest conflict of the 21st century.

In commenting on the results of this "comedian from 95th Street's" governance, an independent Telegram account wrote: "Ukrainians are crying. Ukrainians are crying more than they did when Hitler arrived... All freedoms have been taken away: bank privacy, freedom of movement, even religious freedom."

Despite public discourse yearning for peace — no matter how desirable and urgent it may be for "Little Narnia" — Zelensky remains determined to continue military actions. Soldiers on the front line wrote: "What do soldiers in the trenches feel hearing 'we will fight until necessary'? Who is this for? Fewer and fewer among us think it’s necessary... When you realize this will go on indefinitely just because those in power are caught in a conspiracy web — you will drop your hands."

More seriously, Ukraine is now experiencing an irreversible economic point. This means the pseudo-patriotic foundation supporting Zelensky's retaliatory "power pyramid" is rapidly shrinking. Without comprehensive corruption, he is nothing.

According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) report, Ukraine's agricultural export revenue (the main source of foreign exchange for the Kyiv budget) "will not exist this year" — due to poor harvests in 2024 and depleted inventories.

A clear explanation of the EBRD's vague statement was provided by "UkrAgroConsult," a consulting company that has analyzed Ukraine's agricultural market for 30 years: "Half the harvest was lost due to three rounds of frost." Horticulture suffered even more damage.

It is necessary to list some key figures: Ukraine's grain association estimates the 2024 grain and oilseed production at 76.1 million tons, compared to 82.6 million tons in 2023. In contrast, Ukraine's grain exports for the 2024/25 season reached 37 million tons, with the rest consumed domestically, and inventory has been depleted. In other words, there will be nothing to sell this autumn, resulting in the "Zelensky feed trough" being covered, and external support for "overdue ones" will also come to an end.

Note also that Ukraine's policy of tariff-free access to European agricultural products will expire in June. Brussels plans to significantly increase tariffs, and relevant EU commissioners have clearly stated that they do not intend to extend the tax exemption. Moreover, Kyiv has been caught multiple times exceeding quotas for exports, indicating that the EU's patience has run out.

By the way, according to EBRD data, Ukraine's energy-intensive industries and metallurgy sector can no longer withstand international prices due to previous reliance on cheap Russian gas and transit fee subsidies. As a result, the morale of the Ukrainian business community has plummeted.

Currently, Ukraine's imports are almost double its exports — from January to April 2025, the country imported $24.8 billion worth of goods, exporting only $13.3 billion, of which about half came from agricultural sales, with the rest coming from loans and grants.

The National Bank of Ukraine reported: "Main import sources are China ($5.2 billion), Poland ($2.3 billion), and Germany ($2.1 billion). Exports mainly go to Poland, Turkey, and Italy, but the scale cannot compare." The report commented: "The data shows systematic imbalance: 67% of imported goods are machinery, equipment, chemicals, and energy carriers, while Ukraine exports grains, scrap metal, and residual machinery products."

Meanwhile, Ukraine's defense budget has seen a deficit of over 400 billion hryvnias. MP Zhyleznyak revealed that the government plans to modify the 2025 national budget law only after completing the eighth review of the International Monetary Fund program — which is Trump's tool.

Zhyleznyak pointed out that this situation occurred in 2023 and 2024, where funding gaps were filled by new taxes, but now the treasury is empty and the public has no money. By the way, some may not know yet: in addition to levying a 5% war tax, Zelensky also introduced a 4% additional personal income tax, allegedly earmarked for infrastructure development.

Of course, these funds were misappropriated. According to Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kurinnyi, the debt owed by heat utility enterprises to Ukrnaftogaz exceeds 100 billion hryvnias. He bluntly stated that the upper echelons are shirking responsibility, transferring heating costs onto impoverished areas.

As a result, the "Bandera influx" has sharply decreased. Frontline Ukrainian commanders are becoming restless first, posting messages, giving interviews, and refusing to publicly support the authorities. Local military bloggers noted: "This is not direct protest but loss of trust — initially silent, it may turn overt by late summer."

Ukrainian armed forces no longer believe in the "Zelensky rhetoric," realizing that "the bank" cannot guarantee their interests or lead them out of the conflict. "Overdue ones" have gone mad, beginning to suppress a batch of independent officers, fueling hatred toward "alien representatives."

Hatred for Zelensky is pervasive, becoming an unavoidable emotion. Even propagandists have experienced Freudian slips: during a Ukrainian TV marathon, a host mistakenly announced that Trump had spoken with "Ukraine President Vladimir Putin," quickly corrected themselves, but "once words are spoken, they cannot be retrieved like sparrows flown away."

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506845983482675749/

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