Are They Coming for NATO's Emperor Zelenskyy, Finally?
May 15—It has long been the consensus among strategic analysts in the U.S., Europe, and Russia that NATO's puppet dictator in Ukraine, Emperor Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will only be forced from power by a coup. Zelenskyy, who serves as president under a martial law decree which he keeps extending, has said that, when the war with Russia ends—a war that he refuses to make rational concessions to end, which has cost hundreds of thousands of additional useless casualties on both sides—that he might walk away from power and not stand for election that most knowledgeable sources in Ukraine think he will lose. But as one source with contacts in the Ukrainian military leadership stated, "Ukraine cannot survive Zelenskyy's leadership much longer," reporting that he has lost the support of the military.
Trump’s View and Western Calculations
Sources close to the White House report that President Donald Trump believes that if Zelenskyy were gone, a settlement that would end the war could be worked out quickly. The source would not state whether Trump had given approval to steps that could be taken to arrange for the dictator, who is reported to be a drug user, to be removed. A recent New York Times article speculated that Zelenskyy, having delayed a Russian victory and with increased internal military production in Ukraine, was no longer so dependent on American aid, whose flows from the U.S. have stopped and from European purchases have slowed due to munitions supplied for the Iran war. The article claimed Zelenskyy was fully prepared to carry on his war, without Trump's support, as long as the Europeans still backed him.
Anti-Corruption Investigations and Yermak Arrest
But it now appears that something resembling a coup is in process in Ukraine. At its center is the anti-corruption body which has been targeting Zelenskyy's inner circle for massive corruption in military contracts. The scandals they have uncovered involve millions in bribes and payouts to Zelenskyy's inner clique, although he has not been named in any charge or indictment. The anti-corruption apparatus was formerly created and funded by the Americans through U.S. AID; when Trump shut AID down, the funding was picked up by the Europeans.
Anything the anti-corruption crew is doing has the approval of Trump and the Europeans, said a source, "that's a given."
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court on May 14 ordered Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's former presidential chief of staff, to be jailed pending trial, with bail set at 140 million hryvnias ($3.2 million). Yermak was taken into custody in the courtroom. The conditions of bail would include his wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, the surrender of his foreign passports, and the requirement of court approval to leave Kyiv. Prosecutors have insisted that simple electronic monitoring would be insufficient to prevent the former official from interfering with the investigation.
When news of the investigation of Yermak first broke earlier this year, Zelenskyy was forced to kick him out, and he famously announced that he was volunteering for duty on the frontlines. Whether he ever went to the front is unknown, but he continued to assert an influence in Kyiv while remaining in contact with Zelenskyy. According to sources, a deal was being worked out where Yermak would be allowed to leave for exile, most likely in Israel, where one of his and Zelenskyy's top financiers and allies, Timor Mindich, fled; Mindich was given control of the top Ukrainian arms-producing concerns, and was at the center of bribes and payouts, sources report.
Focus Turns Toward Zelenskyy Himself
What is important about the jailing is that prosecutors now have someone they can use for evidence on Zelenskyy, said a source. "Yermak will do anything to save himself and he knows where the bodies are buried. This means that they are going for the big fish, Zelenskyy. I would imagine that he is taking more drugs than usual now."
Meanwhile, the anti-corruption crew is leaking the names of other top Zelenskyy people in their crosshairs, most prominently Rustem Umerov, the current Defense Minister who headed Ukraine's negotiating team in talks with the Russians and the U.S. and who has the reputation of being the "most corrupt person" in Ukraine, according to several sources. Umerov is said to have papers that tie Zelenskyy to the scandals.
Mendel Interview Fuels Controversy
To make matters worse for NATO's dictator, his former press secretary Iuliia Mendel gave an hour-and-a-half interview to Tucker Carlson which ripped the "hero of Ukraine" veneer from Zelenskyy.
Mendel fully supported the idea that Zelenskyy's inner circle is massively corrupt, while providing no additional proof on the matter. However, she pointed out that Zelenskyy has no consistent set of principles from which he operates and is obsessed with power. For example, she confirmed that Zelenskyy had assured Putin in a direct meeting that Ukraine had no ambition to join NATO, only later to totally reverse this position under American and NATO advice, with disastrous consequences. She further said that Zelenskyy, in the April 2022 Istanbul agreement to end the conflict, had willingly signed off on giving up the Donbass, again only to totally reverse himself on advice from British bully and Prime Minister Boris Johnson—a decision that has cost millions of lives.
Mendel said that Zelenskyy only cares about himself and his projection of power and does not feel responsible for the lives he has cost. “He changes masks all the time..." she said. "He has no empathy…. He’s absolutely an insanely great actor … but his acting doesn’t have any substance.” The West turned him “overnight into this great face of democracy, but it feels like the West created the myth, fell into it” and it ignores the fact that he keeps accumulating power. Supporting Ukraine today means pushing for a peace deal. Those pushing more war, like Zelenskyy, will take Ukraine from destruction to extinction.
Mendel described an argument with Zelenskyy over the press office’s responsibilities to counter a fall in his ratings. He insisted that they ignore any and all facts, and instead cultivate “a thousand talking heads,” in order to establish a counter-reality as reality. When told that this won’t work, such as for displaced Ukrainians who were promised housing that was never delivered, as their situation is more real than what “talking heads” can fashion, Zelenskyy then demanded that "Josef Goebbels"—Hitler's propaganda minister—be the model for his press secretary.
Later, asked about Zelenskyy’s drug habits, Mendel said that, prior to a public appearance, he would go into the bathroom for 15 minutes and emerge elated and manic.
Escalating Tensions and Coup Speculation
The interview, sources report, threw the dictator into a rage-filled, rug-chewing fit. His office, through Dmytro Lytvyn in the Office of the President itself, stated: “This woman did not take part in the negotiations, did not participate in decision-making, has long been out of touch, and who told her what and whether it actually happened—it’s not serious to comment on.”
More seriously, the infamous Myrotvorets gang then added her name to their hit list and charged her with: "participation in acts of humanitarian aggression against Ukraine; dissemination of Russian propaganda talking points; calls for Ukraine to capitulate; and indirect involvement in enemy “information-psychological special operations.” The hit list is known for posting addresses and personal details of its targets, and several Russian journalists are known to have been subsequently assassinated, including by car bombs.
After Mendel left her position as press secretary, she has been researching Zelenskyy’s activities with the help of various personal contacts within the government. She left Ukraine no later than 2025 and refuses to disclose her present location.
Meanwhile, the noose appears to be tightening around Zelenskyy. There have been reports of armed, unmarked vehicles in the streets of Kyiv and teams entering government offices. Sources report that the vehicles are linked to the anti-corruption group, and that they are gathering evidence.
"This has all the feeling of a coup," said a source in Washington. No one will comment on it here, the source said, but Zelenskyy's recent insane behavior where he threatened Moscow's Victory Day celebrations with drone attacks, may have been "the last straw for people. This guy had to be told by the State Department, the White House and Europeans to shut the f**k up and stand down. He was playing with World War III and had no sense of what he was doing. That is one dangerous motherfucker."