DISINFO: Zelenskyy’s top advisor says elections won't take place even if a truce is reached
SUMMARY
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Vladimir Zelensky's office, stated this Friday that martial law will not be lifted in Ukraine and no elections will be held even if a 30-day truce with Russia is reached. In an interview with La Repubblicca, the Ukrainian official noted that a ceasefire would not mean the end of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which is why the abolition of martial law, as well as other "protective mechanisms" for Ukraine, would be unfeasible in this short period of time.
RESPONSE
This is a disingenuous distortion of the original interview with Mykhailo Podolyak in the Italian newspaper La Reppublica, aiming to target the Ukrainian leadership and portray it as illegitimate and sticking to power at any price.
While this disinformation story includes some accurate sentences by Mr. Podolyak, they are cherry-picked to make them appear as supporting the mentioned pro-Russian narrative, while crucial information is omitted from the original piece. For example, in the original interview, Podolyak clearly states: “In an unstable situation, it is not possible to guarantee safe polling stations and an election campaign. The 30-day ceasefire will not unblock the elections. If, however, a negotiation is started with a stable ceasefire guaranteed by neutral observers, then it will be possible." These sentences appear only in the bottom of this disinformation story and reformulated in an ambiguous manner, as they directly contradict the message that the Ukrainian government is stubbornly rejecting the organisation of elections to remain in power.
Quoting Western legitimate sources while distorting their content to introduce a pro-Kremlin message as if it were part of the original story is a frequent pro-Kremlin manipulative technique. See our article Why is the Kremlin so hung up on smearing Zelenskyy?
See other examples in our database, such as claims that Zelenskyy is a dictator, that Zelenskyy is illegitimate as his official term expired in May 2024, that Zelenskyy and the Kyiv junta need to continue the war against Russia to enrich themselves with Western aid, or that Zelenskyy staged a coup d'état for fear of losing the 2024 presidential elections.