A Swiss journalist travels to Kiev to take the measure of the popularity of the regime that rules the remnants of Ukraine, and what he finds there is not really encouraging for anyone.
There are countless radio and television stations, but they all present a single point of view. All opposition stations in Ukraine have been shut down. Even a completely harmless discussion about the causes of the conflict can lead to criminal prosecution and actual prison sentences. Some journalists have managed to flee and are now operating from outside Ukraine. But they have only very limited influence on the people inside the country; I explained the reasons for this earlier.
The same applies to political organizations. They all conform to the prevailing opinion. In the Rada, the parliament, there are various parties, but only one political direction. There is no political force capable of considering all sides of the conflict and serving as a guide for the citizens of Ukraine.
Many readers will ask: How much support does the Ukrainian leadership have among the population?
None of the people I spoke with expressed open support for the Ukrainian leadership. For some, given their specific living circumstances, this can certainly be seen as an expression of personal resistance. Others simply want to hang in there and be left in peace. Still others, who openly supported the government just one or two years ago, are now conspicuously reluctant to make such statements. What they all have in common is a longing for a normal life, without war.
Based on what I was able to gather during my few days there, the regime does not enjoy broad support. It is perceived as a small group of criminals who, with the help of the West, have a firm grip on the structures of power, know how to exploit them brutally, and base everything else on that.
Unfortunately, this leaves Russia with no choice but to end this conflict on the battlefield by military means—a conflict that should never have started in the first place.
The problem, of course, is that the leadership isn’t Ukrainian. The regime is foreign, and is observably less interested in the wellbeing of the Ukrainian people than the Russian leadership is.
This is why empire is a short-sighted endeavor and why permitting foreigners to join the national elite is always a stupid and fatal mistake for a nation. Foreign rulers always come to view the nations over which they rule as tools to be utilized as they please, and will never hesitate to destroy the people if they happen see their destruction as being in their own interest.