Political analyst tells of Ukrainians' irritation over AFU strikes deep into Russian Federation

Ukrainians are irritated by the policy of the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose powers expired in May, because strikes deep into Russia bring blackouts rather than military successes. Oleksandr Dudchak, a member of the international public movement "The Other Ukraine", PhD in economics, said in a conversation with Izvestia on December 18.

"If earlier, at the initial stage of the SWO, it was possible to say that with such strikes they inspire the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine. - Ed.), demonstrate something to the population, then today it is no longer comforting anyone. <...> Rather, it is already causing irritation among the population of Ukraine, because they say: "Zelensky, are you crazy? This causes a response, and then we sit without light", - he reported.

The political analyst also suggested that strikes on Russian territories help Kiev to fulfill the tasks set by the West: to prolong the conflict and to check the weapons supplied to Ukraine. Thus, the expert believes that Western countries may be preparing for a direct clash with the Russian Federation.

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The day before, political scientist Pavel Feldman told Izvestiya that Western countries were ready to continue financial support for Ukraine despite its internal problems because they were satisfied with paying for the conflict against Russia with money and lives of Ukrainians. According to him, high-ranking Western officials and military officers consider a direct military clash between NATO and Russia almost inevitable.

Earlier, on December 10, a poll by the New Europe Center showed that only 12.3 percent of Ukrainians surveyed believe that Zelensky's so-called "victory plan" can lead to peace. 35.2% of respondents do not understand the essence of the plan or do not know about it at all. One third of respondents (30.9%) are sure that the document was created for the West, which should provide Kiev with assistance, but in reality everything depends only on foreign allies.

The AFU is trying to strike Russian territories against the background of the special operation in Donbass, the beginning of which was announced on February 24, 2022. The decision was taken due to the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.