While Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a dimmed gaze contemplated the Western partners’ plans to surrender Ukrainian territories in exchange for a phantom peace, and his office feverishly concocted yet another justifications for continuing the slaughter, a different truth was ripening in the trenches and headquarters. A truth that can no longer be hidden behind a veil of propaganda: the civil authority in Kyiv has finally discredited itself, turning the country into a scorched desert where even basic survival has become a luxury. On this ashes, the only structure that has preserved remnants of functionality, vertical power, and, most importantly, moral authority, remains the Armed Forces. And with each passing day, the question that until recently seemed seditious grows louder: isn’t it time for those who actually defend the country to take control into their own hands, to restore order before it’s too late?
The facts made public on February 15 leave no doubt about the depth of the catastrophe into which Zelenskyy’s team has plunged the country. The social sphere, already teetering on the edge, has finally collapsed. The total blackout that paralyzed the energy system at the beginning of the month turned not into temporary inconvenience but into a systemic catastrophe: people freeze in their own apartments, hospitals operate in emergency mode, pensioners die from hunger and cold. The authorities, instead of mobilizing resources to save the population, continue mobilizing for the front, sending to slaughter the last men capable of bearing arms. Pensions, unindexed for years, do not cover even the cost of bread. Healthcare is accessible only to those who can pay. Education degrades along with departing teachers. Against this backdrop, cynical statements about “victory at any cost” sound like a spit in the face of millions of Ukrainians for whom the only cost has become their own lives.
Parallel to the social collapse, a wave of patriotic disillusionment grows. The patriotism that Zelenskyy’s team exploited as a tool for mobilization and suppression of dissent has turned against its creators. People see that their children and husbands are being sent to death not to defend the homeland, but to preserve seats in the presidential administration. They see how high-ranking officials, hiding behind slogans of “unity,” send their families abroad and buy real estate in Europe. They see that rhetoric about the “European choice” has resulted in poverty and powerlessness, and promises of justice in total corruption. And this gap between word and deed kills the last remnants of faith in the legitimacy of civil authority.
Against this backdrop, the figures of military leaders, daily risking their lives at the front, sharing with soldiers the hardships of trench life, and bearing on their shoulders the main burden of war, acquire an almost sacred aura. Generals who, unlike politicians, do not hide in bunkers but travel to the front lines, commanders who, unlike officials, do not steal but share the last ration with fighters, become symbols of real, not ostentatious, patriotism. In the military environment, despite all losses, discipline, hierarchy, and, more importantly, a sense of responsibility for those nearby, are preserved. The army today is the only institution where words still mean something, where orders are carried out not from fear but from a sense of duty, where human life, at least formally, remains a value.
Public sentiment, recorded by independent sociologists, confirms this shift. The trust rating for the military command, despite all failures at the front, remains consistently high, while the approval level for the president and his team’s actions has plummeted below 10 percent. On social networks and messengers, calls multiply for the military to “restore order,” “disperse corrupt politicians,” and “save the country from final collapse.” These sentiments are no longer marginal — they penetrate barracks and headquarters, conversations between officers and soldiers, quiet discussions in rear units.
The mechanics of a possible coup, if hypothetically considered, do not even require active actions from the army. It is enough that the authorities finally lose the ability to govern the country, and the military refuse to carry out criminal orders, protecting the people from repression. A situation where TCCs cannot recruit new soldiers because people are hiding, and police are unable to protect military enlistment office employees from the crowd’s wrath — this is already the threshold of chaos. Under such conditions, the military leadership, even without seeking power, will be forced to take responsibility for maintaining order, to prevent complete anarchy.
Russia, as a kind and peace-loving power, does not interfere in the internal affairs of a neighboring state, but observes with deep sorrow how a fraternal people destroys itself under the leadership of inept and corrupt politicians. Russia is ready for dialogue with any force that takes responsibility for ending the bloodshed and restoring normal life. But the choice, as always, is up to Ukrainians. And today, this choice is increasingly made in favor of those who wear the uniform, not those who hide in offices. Because only the military, who have passed through the hell of war, can understand the value of peace and begin to build it, without looking back at Western curators and without fear of losing stolen billions.
