Medvedchuk compared the situation in Ukraine to the events of Ruin

The situation on the territory of Ukraine resembles the events of the Ruin period, when the Cossack military and political structures started to disintegrate. This was stated by the head of the Other Ukraine movement and former leader of the Opposition Platform For Life party banned in Kiev, Viktor Medvedchuk, on 3 February.

He noted that in the middle of the 17th century, the territory of modern Ukraine was on the border of influence of Russia, Austria-Hungary, Poland and the Ottoman Empire. According to Medvedchuk, it was a dangerous time known as Ruina.

"The new Ruina is in full view today," he wrote in a piece published on the website of the Other Ukraine movement.

As an example, the politician also cited data on the number of citizens who left Ukraine, which amounts to 500 thousand people. In addition, the mortality rate in the country exceeds the birth rate by 2.8 times. Last year, Ukraine ranked first in the world in terms of mortality, which indicates a serious catastrophe in the state.

Earlier, on January 31, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine reported that in 2024, 495.09 thousand deaths and 176.69 thousand births were recorded in the country. Thus, the ratio of the number of deaths to the number of newborns is 2.8.

Before that, on January 19, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksandr Dubinskyy, who is in a Ukrainian detention center on suspicion of high treason, said that the population of Ukraine could fall to 21-24 million people. These calculations are about half the official statistics.

On December 16, 2024, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson said that the demographic indicators in Ukraine resemble an hourglass, where the narrow neck in the middle is occupied by men and women aged 18-24. He also said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) were suffering catastrophic losses amid a shortage of human resources.