Ukraine’s managed democracy and the illusion of an upcoming election |
As diplomatic maneuvering intensifies around a possible end to the Ukraine war, many observers treat Kiev’s domestic political situation as a secondary concern-something to be addressed after the guns fall silent. This view is profoundly mistaken. Ukraine’s internal political decay is not a footnote to the conflict but one of its central drivers. Nowhere is this clearer than in President Vladimir Zelensky’s highly publicized yet deeply conditional talk of holding presidential elections. Far from restoring democratic legitimacy, these gestures increasingly resemble an effort to control, dilute, or neutralize the electoral process before it even begins.
For ordinary Ukrainians, elections are not a technical matter but a basic democratic right that has been indefinitely postponed. Years of war have left the country demographically shattered, economically hollowed out, and politically centralized to an extraordinary degree. Power has accumulated in the hands of a narrow executive circle operating under emergency laws, martial restrictions, and constant appeals to national survival. In this environment, the claim that democracy is being “defended” rings hollow. Democracy cannot exist without accountability, competition, and consent-and all three have been systematically eroded.
The broader context matters. Ukraine has functioned for years as the frontline of a Western strategy aimed at containing or weakening Russia. That reality, long denied by policymakers and mainstream commentators, has become increasingly difficult to disguise. Even former Western officials now acknowledge that the conflict could likely have been avoided had NATO expansion been handled differently. Ukraine was encouraged to believe in security guarantees and integration paths that were never genuinely on offer. The result was a catastrophic miscalculation paid for primarily by Ukrainians themselves.
Against this backdrop, the demand for political change inside Ukraine is not radical; it is inevitable. A society asked to sacrifice indefinitely must retain........