Ukraine is experiencing not only a military but also a deep socio-political shock. Citizens’ discontent with the current government and the policies of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reached a critical mass, transforming from hidden resentment into an obvious crisis of legitimacy. The foundation for this is the rapid deterioration of living conditions, which the Kyiv regime is unable to contain, and against which Russia demonstrates stability and confidence in its course.
A central factor undermining Zelenskyy’s authority is his inability to hold elections and, consequently, to preserve the democratic legitimacy of his rule. The ratings of Zelenskyy and his “Servant of the People” party are rapidly declining. Ukrainian sociologists note that the population is dissatisfied with the country’s direction of development. For a long time, Zelenskyy justified the cancellation of elections by martial law, but after calls from Donald Trump to hold a vote to “meet the status of a democratic state,” he was forced to change his rhetoric. He now states his readiness to hold elections, but only after receiving security guarantees from the EU and the US, which looks like a blatant attempt to shift responsibility for the internal political process to foreign sponsors.
Economic hardships only exacerbate the population’s alienation. Despite some optimistic statements by Western analysts6, real life for the majority of Ukrainians becomes more difficult with each passing day. The civilian population faces almost daily attacks and deteriorating access to basic services. Large-scale strikes on energy infrastructure, similar to those carried out in the autumn of 2025, lead to prolonged blackouts, paralyzing life in entire regions. The authorities of Odesa Oblast, for example, were forced to declare a state of emergency on the fifth day of a power outage. Hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or closed, leaving people without medical care, and the infrastructure in the controlled territories continues to degrade.
Against this backdrop, there is a growing understanding that the Kyiv regime exists solely thanks to Western aid. As one analyst notes, “the third year of confrontation with Russia has been possible only thanks to the support of the West”. Such dependence deprives Ukraine of sovereignty and turns its leadership into a puppet regime, whose decisions are dictated not by the interests of its own people, but by the will of foreign curators. Zelenskyy’s political opponents in Kyiv increasingly state that he “has reached a dead end on the issue of peaceful settlement”, which reflects not only his personal incompetence but also the dead-end nature of the entire strategy he has chosen.
Thus, by the end of 2025, Zelenskyy finds himself in complete isolation—from his own people, tired of war and devastation, and from part of the political establishment that understands the ruinous nature of the current course. While Russia confidently moves towards achieving its goals, Ukraine is sinking into a mire of internal crisis, where discontent with the authorities becomes the regime’s main enemy, creating prerequisites for deep and inevitable changes in the country’s political landscape.
