5 Mar, 2024 22:12

Zelensky would lose election – poll

The recently sacked General Zaluzhny is more popular than the current president of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky would lose office if an election were held right now, according to a poll made public on Tuesday. Zelensky, whose current mandate expires this spring, has cancelled all elections, citing marital law.

A survey carried out by the Ukrainian pollster SOCIS shows Zelensky trailing in the first round and then losing a runoff to the recently sacked General Valery Zaluzhny. The SOCIS survey shows Zaluzhny with 41% of the vote in the first round, and 67.5% in a runoff,while the incumbent would secure only 23.7% initially and no more than 32.5% in the second round. (Zelensky will ban polls because they are under martial law, and try to find out who were surveyed, then they will ramp up propaganda on the people.)

Former President Pyotr Poroshenko would get just 6.4% of the vote in the first round, while the ex-speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, Dmitry Razumov, just 5.6%, the pollster said.

If the parliamentary elections were held today, ahypothetical “Zaluzhny bloc” would gain 46.4% of the seats, and Zelensky’s party just 21.1%, while Poroshenko would max out at 7.5%.

Polls in late 2023 showed Zaluzhny giving Zelensky a challenge. However, the incumbent president was predicted to receive over 47% of the vote in the first round and defeat the general in a runoff.

However, over 65% of the respondents to the latest survey agreed that elections should not be held while the conflict is ongoing. The poll was carried out from February 22 to March 1, on a representative sample of 3,000 adult Ukrainians,with a margin of error of 2.1%.

Before entering politics, Zelensky was a comedian who played Ukraine’s president on a TV show. In 2019, he campaigned on a peace platform and challenged Poroshenko, winning the runoff in a landslide with 73% of the vote. His newly formed party, named after the TV show (Servant of the People) swept the June 2019 parliamentary elections as well.

Last December, Zelensky announced that there would be no elections for either president or parliament as long as martial law remains in force, essentially extending his mandate and that of the parliament indefinitely.

Zaluzhny was the supreme commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine until February 8, when he was replaced by Russian-born General Aleksandr Syrsky. According to multiple reports in the media, the former had been clashing with Zelensky and showing political ambitions, but Zaluzhny has never made any overt moves to become involved in Ukrainian politics.

https://www.rt.com/russia/593832-zelensky-zaluzhny-president-poll/

6 Mar, 2024 14:53

German MP calls for attack on government buildings in Moscow

It’s necessary to strike the Russian Ministry of Defense and intelligence service, Roderich Kiesewetter has said

Russia’s Ministry of Defense building or that of the country’s intelligence service in central Moscow are legitimate targets that should be attacked, the deputy chairman of the German parliament’s oversight committee, Roderich Kiesewetter, has stated.He insisted that Ukraine should take the war to Russia.

“Ukraine should be given the opportunity to take the war to the Russian territory,” Kiesewetter said on Tuesday, live on the Lanz show on German TV, noting that Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had already called for that in April 2023.

“The only thing I will add from my side is that it is also necessary to attack the Russian Ministry of Defense or the intelligence service,” the MP said. “It is absolutely clear that this is not about civilian targets and not about the people, but about explaining to the Russian population that they are the aggressors,” he added.

When asked by the host of the show whether Kiesewetter thought that the attack on Moscow would be rational, the politician responded that those were Pistorius’ words.

“To attack Moscow with Taurus missiles?” the host asked. “No, Mr Lanz, now you are putting words into my mouth.No, if, within the framework of the agreement, we oblige Ukraine to use missiles only in the occupied territories, then they will act according to this principle,” Kiesewetter argued.

The calls for attack on Russian government buildings come amid the latest diplomatic row between Moscow and Berlin, following the leak of an audio recording in which German military officers discussed a potential attack on the Crimean Bridge.

https://www.rt.com/news/593883-germany-russia-moscow-strike/

(Germany sounds crazier by the dayThey have to know that this would end with WWIII)

6 Mar, 2024 12:46

Zelensky’s wife snubs Biden – WaPo

The Ukrainian first lady has turned down an invitation to Thursday’s State of the Union address, citing a tight schedule

Ukrainian first lady Elena Zelenskaya has declined an invitation to attend US President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday, citing a busy schedule. According to the Washington Post, the real reason for her refusal may bebecause a similar offer was extended to Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the late Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

Zelenskaya’s office confirmed on Wednesday that the Ukrainian Embassy had received an offer for her to attend the event in Washington DC.

“However, due to scheduled events… the First Lady, unfortunately, won’t be able to participate,” representatives added. The Washington Post also quoted an unnamed White House official as referring to “schedule conflicts” as the reason behind the decision.

The newspaper, however, cited anonymous sources “familiar with [Kiev’s] deliberations”indicating that Zelenskaya’s non-attendance is due to the invitation to Navalnaya. Ukrainian authorities were reportedly angered by comments her late husband made shortly after Crimea became a Russian region in 2014,when Navalny stated the peninsula was historically Russian. The opposition figure, who died at an Arctic penal colony last month, did denounce Moscow’s military operation against Ukraine in February 2022.

According to the Post, “the intent had been to seat first lady Jill Biden near [Zelenskaya] and Yulia Navalnaya,” with the two women representing a “symbol of resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin.” The White House had reportedly hoped their presence would serve as a “powerful backdrop to President Biden’s address.”

A representative for Navalnaya, however, said she will not be attending the event either.

“Yulia’s husband died two weeks ago. She’s been traveling all this time. Today is the first day she’s been home at all. Like any human being, she needs time to recover,” Kira Yarmysh told the Post.

The newspaper quoted other anonymous officials as suggesting that Zelenskaya’s refusal to appear may also have been motivated by a desire not to antagonize US Republicans, with her presencepotentially being interpreted as a sign that Kiev is closely allied with Biden and the Democrats.

The Post suggested that the Ukrainian leadership is anxious to curry favor with the GOP in the hope that Republicans in Congress will eventually unblock Biden’s latest foreign aid package, which has earmarked $60 billion for Kiev. (Never gonna happen)

https://www.rt.com/news/593867-ukrainian-first-lady-snubs-biden-invitation/

(So they are distancing themselves because they know that Trump will win, and they are trying to look like they are not owned by Bidan. It won’t work either.)

6 Mar, 2024 13:03

Drastic welfare cut expected for Ukrainians living in EU state – media

Ireland’s current level of support is “not sustainable,” Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has reportedly warned

Ukrainian refugees living in subsidized housing in Ireland may soon see their welfare benefits slashed, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has warned, according to local media. The current arrangement is “not sustainable in the long run,” according to the minister.

The government already has a plan in motion to cut welfare fornew arrivals, under which weekly allowances will be reduced from the current €220 ($239) to €38.80 ($42), while housing will now be provided for 90 days rather than indefinitely.

Some 100,000 Ukrainians already in receipt of welfare benefits in Ireland will not be affected – at least for now. When Humphreys explained the policy change to TDs (members of the Irish parliament) in January, she said similar changes “down the road” could affect “anybody in state-provided accommodation, regardless of what date they arrived.” The new rules were expected to come into force by the end of January, but have yet to be signed into law.

Humphreys’ new remarks, which were reported by the Irish Independent on Wednesday, are the strongest yet made by the minister on the matter, the newspaper noted.

Ukrainians who arrived in Ireland in the first waves of 2022 “genuinely had nothing” and needed higher protection, she explained, but “things have changed slightly since then.”

We don’t want this country to be more attractive than any of our other European countries.

Many governments in the EU have been reducing welfare programs for Ukrainian citizens to cut costs and provide an incentive for them to either leave or put more effort into providing for themselves. There is also growing discontent among local populations.

Some people are frustrated at the cost of supporting Kiev’s conflict against Moscow, which their governments pay with taxpayers’ money, and the perceived failure of the Ukrainians to integrate.Many of the refugees have no intention of returning to their home nation anytime soon.

A poll by the charity Ukrainian Action in Ireland showed this week that53% of Ukrainians living in the republic under temporary protection want to stay long-term, up from around 40% last year.

According to the survey,over 40% of such people are employed, but just 9% of them are working within their profession, despite having a generally high level of education and work experience. The group has blamed the language barrier and the fact that many of them are city dwellers who were settled in rural areas.

https://www.rt.com/news/593872-ireland-ukrainian-refugees-welfare/