21 December 2025, 18:22

Panchenko: Zelensky still believes he is fighting evil

Vladimir Zelensky/TASS

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MINSK, 21 December (BelTA) – Vladimir Zelensky still believes he is fighting evil, Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko said in a new episode of the V Teme [On Point] project on BelTA’s YouTube channel.

Commenting on opinion polls in Ukraine suggesting that residents oppose withdrawing Ukrainian Armed Forces from Donbass, Diana Panchenko said: “That’s a lie.”

“It’s very difficult to speak substantively about things that are a complete lie. It’s like talking about European democracy. What kind of democracy? Have you seen the elections in Moldova, Romania and the ongoing developments in France, Germany?” she asked. “Everyone can be cancelled and banned. There are no free elections, no democracy.”

“These polls were concocted together with Zelensky’s advisers. The scariest thing is that they’re written not just for the domestic audience, but also for foreign partners, and so on. They’re done specifically for Zelensky. This man doesn’t fully understand what’s really going on because he lives in an environment where he is treated like the ‘Che Guevara’ of the new century. He still thinks he’s fighting evil, leading Ukraine toward some goal, but at the cost of terrible losses,” Diana Panchenko noted.

The Ukrainian journalist added: “On the other hand, when the EU imposed sanctions against me, several highly respected people called me, and I asked each of them whether peace should be expected. And one of them, someone who knows Zelensky, said that Zelensky is a pure little devil. Given the choice between killing millions more and staying in power, he’ll, of course, choose himself. So history has willed it: this is the man who leads Ukraine today.”