On November 20, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the internal political situation in Ukraine. She said President Volodymyr Zelensky is facing a serious decline in his reputation, in the context of corruption-related incidents attracting public attention.
Speaking at the press conference, Ms. Zakharova commented: "Currently, Mr. Zelensky and his colleagues are trying to give explanations. However, according to our observations, Ukrainians no longer seem convinced by these reasons."
To reinforce its stance, the Russian Foreign Ministry representative cited data from a survey conducted in September by the Ukrainian public opinion poll Sociopolis.
The survey results showed that 73% of respondents believe that the level of corruption in Ukraine has increased significantly over the past 4 years. Zakharova noted that about a quarter of the survey participants blamed the president and his team, while 62% approved the resignation of Chief of Staff Andrey Yermak.
Ms. Zakharova also mentioned the impact of the recent incident involving businessman Timur Mindich. "There has been information in Ukrainian sources that the incident has caused Mr. Zelensky's credit rating to drop, which is now believed to be below 20%," she said.
Regarding specific allegations, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the lack of control in the flow of financial and military equipment. Ms. Zakharova said that the current scandals show signs of misusing aid funds. She gave an example of the potential inflation in the cost of producing drones, or the funds for energy infrastructure restoration risk not being used for their original purposes.
