Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
February 17, 2024
It is rather unfortunate that it takes so long for the dark future of the proxy war in Ukraine unfolding to the public view. The war lasted too long for Ukraine, and the world already. For almost two years, the proxy war has been portrayed by the western media as a must win war because, on the surface, the war is all about defending the “western democracy.” If Ukraine fails, the dominion effect would cause every and each of the western democracy falling one by one. However, Ukraine as a nation is far from a true “democracy.” There is no general election scheduled!
Ukraine is not even an “independent nation,” her people are scattered around the world as refuges, her economy is wrecked but propped up by western nations’ cash support. Most significantly the “government” is not democratic by any measure, President Zelenskyy answers no Ukrainians but follow the foreign leaders who promised to support the proxy war. Unfortunately, Zelenskyy has shown no leadership of winning, but he overrules military commanders. He has no specific strategy of ending the war with Russia, every day the war goes on means that Ukraine is bleeding.
Ukraine troops withdraw from frontline city Avdiivka
AFP
Fri, February 16, 2024 at 9:31 PM PST·
People don’t trust Ukraine’s new top commander anywhere near as much as the ‘Iron General’ Zaluzhny, new poll finds
Ella Sherman
Thu, February 15, 2024 at 10:15 AM PST
- A new poll shows Ukrainians trust the former top commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, more than his successor, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky.
- The poll reflects public opinion after President Zelenskyy’s push for new military leadership.
- Syrsky, despite past military victories, faced criticism following a high-casualty battle.
Ukrainians trust the former top commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, far more than his successor, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, according to a new poll conducted after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hopes of new leadership revitalizing his military and the war effort.
The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology reported Thursday that 94 percent of Ukrainian residents trusted Zaluzhny in February, when he resigned as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while Syrsky held only 40 percent of the Ukrainian public’s trust.
The KIIS poll results show that public trust in Syrsky has increased since December, 21 percent do not trust him, 4 percent aren’t sure, and 35 percent of Ukrainians said they do not know him. This poll provides insight into the Ukrainian public’s views after Zelenskyy said he wanted a revival of military leadership leading up to the promotion of Syrsky and several other shake-ups.
Syrsky was a powerhouse commander at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in his role in the defense of Kyiv, and he was able to retake Kharkiv in fall 2022. But he faced major criticism after the 2023 battle of Bakhmut.
Unlike Zaluzhny’s nickname, “Iron General,” some of the Ukrainian troops have nicknamed Syrsky the “Butcher” following high casualties and losses in Bakhmut, Politico reported.
Zelenskyy, however, has made his case in support of Syrsky and said that the new commander-in-chief is “Ukraine’s most experienced commander.”
Shortly after Zaluhzny’s departure, the KIIS poll showed that the Ukrainian public’s trust in Zelenskyy dropped by about 5 percentage points.
In response to survey results, KIIS executive director Anton Hrushetskyi said the lowering of trust among the Ukrainian public may be due to a variety of reasons beyond Zaluzhny, like political scandals and the uncertain attitudes of international partners toward Ukraine.
“It should be taken into account that the survey took place in a very ‘hot’ period, so it will be possible to talk about the crystallization of a certain attitude a little later, when the emotions of all participants have cooled down,” Hrushetskyi said.
“Hopefully, the effects in public sentiment that we are observing have been calculated, and further steps will be less controversial and will lead the country to improve the situation,” he said.
Dismissal of former Commander-in-Chief affects Ukrainians’ trust in Zelenskyy – survey
Ukrainska Pravda
Thu, February 15, 2024 at 4:47 AM PST·
According to the survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), after the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the trust in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fallen to 60%.
Source: a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), conducted on 5-10 February 2024
Quote: “The survey was conducted during the period of Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal. Within the period of 5-8 February (before the dismissal) 874 interviews were held, then within the period of 9-10 February (after the dismissal) 328 interviews were conducted…
Right after the dismissal the trust dropped by 5 percentage points to 60%. Thus, in total 64% trusted Zelenskyy during the period of 5-10 February but the index was 60% at the end of this period.”
Details: Reportedly, as of the beginning of February, 64% of respondents in total trusted Zelenskyy, but Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal affected the trust index.
In February 2022, before the Russian invasion, 37% trusted the President. After the invasion the trust sharply increased to 90% as of May 2022.
Later within the period of May 2022-December 2023 the trust in Zelenskyy dropped by 13 percentage points from 90% to 77%. Within the next two months by the beginning of February he lost 12 more percentage points – the trust fell from 77% to 65%.