DISINFO: Zelenskyy is no more the legitimate leader of Ukraine and his decisions are illegal
SUMMARY
The mandate of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy expired, so it does not make sense to talk of his legitimacy. Zelenskyy usurped power and turned Ukrainians into his hostages. He has no right to order a mobilisation, send people to war or adopt any decision as head of the State. Ukrainian citizens mobilised under the base of illegal decisions must return home. The only source of power in the country is the people of Ukraine, turned into hostage of a puppet dictator. Despite this, the West and the UN have whitewashed and legitimised the figure of this usurper.
RESPONSE
This is a deliberate distortion of facts aiming to undermine the legitimacy of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation.
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.
While the date 20 May 2024, five years after president Zelenskyy taking office, has arose some domestic controversy in Ukraine, 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 Ukrainian population lives under Russian occupation. There are also multiple funding and infrastructure problems that can hardly be addressed while the war is ongoing.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Zelenskyy is illegitimate and therefore Russia is directly fighting the West, that the prolonged war allows Zelenskyy and his junta to maintain their positions of power, 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.