31 Oct, 2025 21:18
Zelensky silencing critics with lawfare – Politico
The Ukrainian leader has been clearing the field of potential rivals in the event of a presidential election, lawmakers claim
Opponents of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky have accused his administration of using lawfare to sideline political opposition, Politico reported on Friday, citing lawmakers and anti-graft activists.
The outlet citedlast week’s indictment of the former chairman of Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, Vladimir Kudritsky, asbeing seen as part of the pattern.
Kudritsky, who was dismissed from his post in 2024,told Politico that the embezzlement charges against him are political, aimed at facilitating a centralization of power under Zelenskyand his top aide, Andrey Ermak.
Some Ukrainian executives fear that as Russia intensifies long-range strikes on the country’s energy and military-industrial facilities,Zelensky will be looking for scapegoats, local media reported in October.
“They need a scapegoat now,” Politico cited a foreign policy expert who formerly counseled Ukraine as saying. “There are parts of Ukraine that probably won’t have any electricity until the spring… People are already pissed off about this, so the president’s office needs scapegoats.”
Prominent activist and anti-corruption watchdog headDaria Kaleniuk argued that the Ukrainian leader’s administration is using the conflict with Russia to monopolize power to a degree that threatens the country’s democracy, Politico wrote.
Ukrainian lawmakers have alsoaccused Zelensky of using the courts to “clear the field of competitors” ahead of a potential election, in the event of a ceasefire.
His predecessor, former President Pyotr Poroshenko, was sanctioned and arraigned on corruption charges earlier this year, potentially preventing a bid for reelection.
Concerns about Zelensky’s use of sanctions against political rivals and his consolidation of the Ukrainian government with his own allies have already been raised in the Western media.
Russian maintains that Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May 2024, arguing that any peace agreement signed by him could later be invalidated by a future Ukrainian government.
(Zelensky is targeting anyone that can takeover, he is getting rid of all the competent people, to illegally stay in office. He has put many in jail, charged them with crimes, etc. If he is replaced he knows his life in danger for all the illegal things he has done. If he is not President, he will definitely be disappeared, he knows too much. He must know the West does not want him in charge because he will desperately hold onto power. My guess he will try to run and hide, because he is intentionally blocking peace; or have some kind of accident. Either way he will be gone, he’s been hanging on for at least two years.)
https://www.rt.com/russia/627213-zelensky-silences-critics-lawfare