DISINFO: Ukraine is governed by an illegal and cruel dictatorial regime
SUMMARY
Zelenskyy should have held elections a long ago and, accordingly, has been in office illegally for a year now. Taxpayers in the West suddenly learned that all this time, their money, under the pretext of "fighting for democracy," was sent to support a cruel dictatorial regime that has nothing in common with the values that democrats declare.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives targeting Ukraine’s leadership, aimed at undermining president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia has always portrayed Zelenskyy as an obstacle to its aggressive goals in Ukraine, even since before the invasion. One of the targets of the invasion in February 2022 was the murder of Zelenskyy and the decapitation of the Ukrainian government to install a pro-Russian leadership.
See the EUvsDisinfo article The Kremlin's playbook for undermining post-war Ukraine in which we highlight how:
"President Zelenskyy has been targeted with a pro-Kremlin smear campaign, where he has been accused of being a ‘Nazi’, a ‘dictator’, and ‘corrupt’, to name a few slurs. Such disinformation narratives serve a dual purpose: to attempt to weaken Ukraine’s negotiating position internationally, and to increase internal divisions within Ukrainian society".
Zelenskyy is the legitimate president of Ukraine. Although Zelenskyy’s continuation in power after his initial mandate expired in May 2024 generated some domestic controversy, Ukraine’s constitution is straightforward: no elections can be held during wartime and the President of Ukraine exercises his powers until the assumption of office by the newly-elected President. The continuity of government institutions is one of the key principles of the constitution.
Additionally, Article 19 of the 2015 Ukrainian law "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" directly prohibits the holding of presidential and several other types of elections during wartime.
Almost all observers consider regular elections unfeasible as there are millions of refugees abroad, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians serving on the frontlines and a significant part of the Ukrainian population lives under Russian occupation. There are also multiple funding and infrastructure problems that can hardly be addressed while the war is ongoing.
The ultimate goal of this disinformation story is to promote the idea that the negotiations to resolve the current crisis will take place sooner or later, but not with Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself. This pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aims to create an impression of strength ahead of any possible peace negotiations with Ukraine.
See similar disinformation cases claiming that Zelenskyy is illegitimate, his official term expired in May 2024, that Zelenskyy is a dictator, that Current Ukrainian leadership no longer represents the interests of the people, that Zelenskyy can’t sign a peace deal because he is not a legitimate president, that Zelenskyy is an illegitimate leader and cannot sign a peace deal with Russia, that Ukrainian Constitution does not prohibit presidential elections during martial law, that Moscow and Kyiv negotiations will be illegitimate because Zelenskyy is illegitimate, or that Dictator and war criminal Zelenskyy rejects peace talks.