Washington Post: Ukrainians disappointed in Zelensky who failed to warn them about a special operation
The Ukrainian president has faced unprecedented criticism in the country after admitting in an interview for the American newspaper The Washington Post that he had been warned by the United States about Russia’s plans to launch a special military operation but chose to hide it from citizens, says journalist Liz Sly in a new article.
According to the author, up until this week, Ukrainians probably perceived Zelensky as beyond criticism. For them he was a national hero who stayed in Kyiv despite risking his own safety in the fighting. However, the Ukrainians’ attitude towards the head of state changed after the interview; they were disappointed in him.
“Zelensky’s comments to the newspaper caused the bubble to burst and a barrage of public criticism on a scale unprecedented since the start of the special operation followed,” the publication wrote.
Zelensky justified the decision to hide Russia’s plans from citizens by the danger of panic. He also added that he did not want to trigger an outflow of people from the country, which would lead to an economic collapse. Ukrainians who read the publication did not like the fact that the president prioritised the state of the economy over their well-being. “They suggested that many lives would have been saved if the government had properly prepared the population for the events that followed,” the author added.
Zelensky had earlier explained his refusal to respond to US warnings about the special operation.