A close aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly told a Time magazine journalist that the president is in a state of delusion over his belief in ultimate victory over Russia.
“He deludes himself,” the aide told the journalist about their boss while adding,”We’re out of options. We’re not winning. But try telling him that,” Time reported Monday. (RELATED: Ukraine Passes Bill Banning Church Despite Repeated Condemnations Of Russian Invasion)
“Nobody believes in our victory like I do. Nobody.”
Inside Volodymyr Zelensky’s lonely fight to save Ukraine as war fatigue spreads https://t.co/7uvz7N4Bh8 pic.twitter.com/tgaQyasld3
— TIME (@TIME) October 30, 2023
While Zelenskyy feels personally betrayed by the West whom he accuses of failing to give him the means to win the war, he paradoxically still clings to the notion of ultimate victory over Russia, an aide told Time.
“We’re not moving forward,” an aide told Time on the dire condition on the front line with Russia. The aide revealed to Time that even some Ukrainian front-line commanders have begun to refuse direct orders to advance.
“They don’t have the men or the weapons,” one Ukrainian officer told Time about the status of the Ukrainian army to commit to an operation that was demanded by Kyiv. One aide told the journalist that even if Western military assistance fully came through that the Ukrainian army does not “have the men to use” the weapons sent.
Political unity around Western commitment toward Ukraine has been eroded. The House Republican Conference presented a draft of a bill Monday that would separate American funding toward Israel, which enjoys bipartisan support and Ukrainian funding. In the Senate, a similar concept has been circulated. “It is essential that the United States provide support for our allies in Israel. That assistance should not depend on whether we continue to provide aid to Ukraine,” Sen. Vance of Ohio said in a press statement.
Revelations about the rampant state of corruption within Ukraine were also made in the Time article. One top aide told the journalist, “People are stealing like there’s no tomorrow.”
