Zelensky 'Rolls Back' Anti-Corruption Changes Amidst Pressure, But the Mob's Ire Not Yet Slaked
Today, Zelensky reportedly backed off on his hostile takeover of ‘Ukrainian’ corruption agencies by submitting a new amended bill that alleges to return “independence” to them. But there are a few problems.
Firstly, the Verkhovna Rada conveniently broke for weeks long recess right after signing the previous bill several days ago, so it remains to be seen what the point of Zelensky’s rapid revisions are if they cannot be ratified by the Rada any time soon. Could be a stalling tactic, but we’ll have to see.
Secondly, it’s still murky what precisely Zelensky changed that is supposed to guarantee the ‘independence’ of the SAPO and NABU agencies. From the little information I could gather so far on it, it appears to restore independence by undoing the previously mandated ‘subordination’ of these agencies to Ukraine’s prosecutor general.
However, digging a little deeper, it appears Zelensky may have simply snuck in some other backdoor Trojans of control into the agencies with this revision. For instance, sources list a new internal “oversight unit” within these agencies, which would operate under “methodologies approved of by the SBU”.
We can only guess at what this means, precisely, but it also specifies as to give the SBU the ability to conduct lie detector tests on agency members. In short, these measures could give Zelensky the ability to still remove unwanted or overstepping agents—i.e. those that might presume to investigate Zelensky’s own crimes, or those of his inner circle—by way of these ‘internal oversight bodies’ with apparent ties to the SBU. In that way, the agencies may maintain an ‘independent’ facade on the surface, but still allow Zelensky subtle levers of control to ensure they are never used as tools of coercion against him and his clique.
That said, both agencies reportedly approved of the changes, according to Ukrinform:
Both NABU and SAPO have expressed support for the bill, stating that it restores all guarantees of independence for both institutions.
"Bill No. 13533, submitted by the President of Ukraine as urgent, restores all procedural powers and guarantees the independence of NABU and SAPO," the agencies said in a joint statement.
The question is, has the damage already been done? People are still protesting, the online crowd is still up in arms against Zelensky, and Western rags continue to pump out calls for removal:
Despite his ‘correction’, Zelensky has still worn out his welcome to many people. A sampling of the online sentiment shows that many Ukrainians believe even with this apparent turnabout, Zelensky has still “revealed his true face” by even attempting to ‘subvert’ or ‘undermine’ the suddenly-‘crucial’ anti-corruption agencies.
Protests continued tonight:
As such, many people are unforgiving and no longer sympathetic to their erstwhile-beloved wartime leader. The Telegraph piece above, for instance, lists a litany of grievances: from Zelensky’s repressions against opponents, to shuttering of opposition media and businesses, to protection from prosecution of ‘senior cabinet members’ favored by Zelensky himself. It’s like a bad breakup where all the accumulated grievances finally start frothing to the surface.
For their part, the EU politburo released a “cautious” statement that expresses approval for steps taken ‘so far’ in ameliorating the situation, but shows that the EU is not yet fully convinced of Zelensky’s sincerity:
The EU acknowledged Ukraine’s efforts to address the concerns raised but explicitly stated the need for real, tangible steps to ensure the independence of its anti-corruption institutions: the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP).
Remember, subservience to the EU dictatorship must be total and unequivocal.
Let’s briefly cover the frontline advances we didn’t get to last time.
Russian forces have continued to make gains on the western Zaporozhye front, past the newly-captured Kamyanske:
As can be seen, they expanded further north and east to stiffen the line, as well as passed through half of the next town up of Plavni.
Slightly east of there, they made a little headway through Mala Tokmachka, while capturing more fields just south of it to cover the flanks of the advance through the city:
Footage emerged of the Russian 70th Regiment of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division taking the eastern part of Mala Tokmachka:
Just the battle footage here:
You can see one BMP hit but still able to drop off its men at the target and retreat. Geolocation of the footage above:
On the Velyka Novosilka line, virtually everything was expanded with new captures to flatten the entire front:
In particular, most of Voskresenka was captured, as well as areas just north and south of it. Most of Novokhatske to the north and areas around Tolstoi were taken, with Zeleniy Hai already under siege with its outskirts captured:
Above you can see Dachne was also finished off and areas around it captured to bolster the flanks.
The most interesting developments occurred just north of there in the embattled Pokrovsk zone.
First, Russian DRGs have already been confirmed as operating deep inside the city, wreaking total havoc on Ukrainian communications and rear lines. AFU units complain of a big uptick in friendly fire as they skittishly react to every sight and sound.
The video which made the rounds several days ago and began the big infiltration scare was the following—showing a Ukrainian unit deep inside Pokrovsk getting ambushed while driving down the road:
Geolocation of the ambush from Ukraine’s Deep State:
Another unconfirmed video emerged showing Russian troops reportedly even deeper in Pokrovsk, speaking with a liberated civilian—a geolocation is even given.
A top Ukrainian military officer channel writes the following:
One of the things the situation also denotes is that Pokrovsk no longer even has a fully-fledged defense, and is to some extents a gray zone where Russian DRGs or Spetsnaz are already able to operate freely. Of course, some Ukrainian channels continue to claim these DRGs are being constantly “destroyed”, yet up to now, they have only been able to post a single inconclusive photo of just one eliminated ‘Russian soldier’.
As of this writing, the absolute latest update claims that Russian forces captured both Leontovychi and Troyanda, and have already begun entering the outskirts of Pokrovsk proper in force:
We’ll have to wait and see if this holds, but if it does, this is obviously a massive development that could mean the end of Pokrovsk has begun.
What helped facilitate these successes was the other big success on Pokrovsk’s northern side. The day before yesterday Russian forces broke through in the areas circled in red, according to some sources cutting the key highway leading out of Nove Shakhove, or at minimum placing it under drone fire control:
Some sources even now claim Novoekonomichne has been fully captured and Russian forces are entering the outskirts of Mirnograd. Information is particularly volatile at the moment because things are so in flux, so take everything with a grain of salt until real confirmations are made.
From one top Russian military channel:
Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) direction Units of the “Center” Grouping, after taking Novoekonomicheskoye, have entered Mirnograd (Dimitrov) from the east and south.
It can be stated that Russian forces have now begun the assault on Mirnograd as well.
In Pokrovsk, Kiev forces are setting up defenses directly inside the city, especially in the area of high-rise buildings. They’ve even dragged in “dragon’s teeth” fortifications.
The situation in the city is highly dynamic. Kiev forces don’t fully understand which areas are under Russian control, which sometimes leads to incidents of “friendly fire”.
Russian units are attacking enemy positions on the western outskirts near the T-0406 highway. Pershe Travnya (Leontovichi), among other areas, is being worked on by Russian units. Fighting has begun on the eastern outskirts of Krasny Liman, and continues near the Krasnolimanskaya mine, Suvorovo, Nikanorovka, and Shakhovo. Russian forces are also advancing toward Belitskoye.
Interestingly, just as this happened, a mandatory emergency evacuation was announced for a batch of cities just to Pokrovsk’s north:
I guess one can say this doesn’t exactly bode well for Ukraine in this area.
There were other advances around Konstantinovka—particularly, the capture of Bila Hora—as well as Kupyansk region. For instance, from a Ukrainian source:
⚡️ Ukrainian military officer Bunyatov reports that Russian forces have entered Torske on the Lyman direction and are attempting to encircle the Ukrainian Armed Forces units
"The enemy has infiltrated Torske and taken up a defensive position surrounded – such actions contribute to destabilizing our defense and the enemy's advance in this direction. There is also an advancement resembling an 'appendicitis' southeastward, thus the enemy is trying to implement a plan to 'outline' the encirclement on the flanks of Torske," Bunyatov laments.
But we’ll leave it here for now as it’s better not to distract from the escalating Pokrovsk showdown which will likely become the main focus soon.
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Let’s turn to a few last updates:
Russian and Ukrainian delegations met again in Istanbul. This time the meeting seemed even more trivial, reportedly lasting only half an hour and achieving nothing more than another prisoner exchange. Both sides are as entrenched as ever in their positions, and there is no progress whatsoever on any imagined ‘compromises’ for ending the war. Russian negotiator Medinsky in fact evoked WWII in stating that no matter how many sanctions Russia endured from 1920 onward, it still managed to fight WWII for years and was victorious in the end.
As for the exchanges, the Ukrainian side is said to have virtually no Russian prisoners left to exchange as rumors persist that Ukraine continues to offer Russia everything from captured civilians, to political prisoners, to dug up WWII bodies in exchange for Ukrainian POWs. Meanwhile, Ukrainian sources themselves confirm Russia still has over 8,000 AFU troops in detention:
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Belousov oversees the introduction of a new tactical communications and situational awareness system for commanders, though it’s not specified which one precisely it is:
Meanwhile Russian teams show off a DIY new EW system to intercept drone signals. Whacky as it may look, they demonstrate it functioning on a sample drone:
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Spiegel confirms reports that the Patriots Trump had promised cannot even begin delivery until 2026, and most not until much later than that:
Meanwhile German Defense Minister Pistorius likewise confirms that he is completely baffled by Trump’s promises on Germany’s behalf, and has no clue what is supposed to have been sent to Ukraine:
As suspected, it turns out Trump was merely making things up on the fly as he’s wont to do, and other minions and vassals are forced to do ‘clean up’ work afterwards in attempt to fulfill his empty boasts or groundless promises.
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Speaking of supplies and ammo, Syrsky told WaPo that Ukraine is again running low on 155mm shells, contradicting recent sentiments that Ukraine has finally achieved some kind of “parity” with Russian artillery capabilities:
By the way, the above article highlights the grotesque disingenuousness of Western reporting on Russian-Ukrainian casualties. They constantly lecture us that Russia must be taking heavier casualties than Ukraine because Russia is always on the offensive. Yet Syrsky states with a straight face that Ukraine took less casualties than Russia during its Kursk incursion, which WaPo does not bother to question at all, despite the farcical nature of the lie:
The Kursk occupation ultimately killed or wounded at least 80,000 Russian troops, Syrsky said. He declined to disclose Ukrainian casualties there but said they were significantly fewer than Russia’s.
What a joke—both the claim and WaPo as a legitimate ‘publication’.
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Zaluzhny also made interesting statements in a new interview, including that since late 2023, Russia has shifted fully to an attritional style warfare, and that in his view the war may now last until 2034:
‼️🇺🇦🇷🇺 Ukraine has entered a new phase: The war could last until 2034, - former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ambassador to Britain Zaluzhny
➖"Ukraine has entered a new phase. If we only try to achieve a ceasefire without forming our defense for the future, it will last a long, long time. It started in 2014, and God willing, it will end in 2034," Zaluzhny said.
▪️He noted that the "old" war ended at the end of 2023, and now Russia is using a tactic of positional attrition - not to advance, but to destroy the Ukrainian army.
▪️At the same time, he believes that neither Ukraine nor Russia has enough people for such a war.
RVvoenkor
He mentions carrying out systematic defenses, here’s a new video of one of the big defensive lines said to be under construction along the Dnipropetrovsk border and beyond. One can see how primitive labor is being used, but that the scale of the anti-tank ditches is growing nonetheless:
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Once again, despite a clear presentation of the facts, I have no idea what's going on.
Are the protests legitimate? Don't know. Are they being supported by a powerful faction inside Ukraine? No idea. Why hasn't Z sent in the SBU to clear out the squares? No clue. Who is really behind the Western push for "Z must go"? Haven't the foggiest idea. Is Russia making as much headway on the ground as it could? Shrug.
All I can say is wars are popping up all over the place. By my count, we've got: Myanmar vs. 10+ domestic groups heating up, FADRC vs M23 vs Wazalendo (Rwanda, DRC, and Burundi), Thailand vs. Cambodia, whatever tf is going on in S. Sudan w/r/t Uganda, Houthis v. Israel, Houthis v. UAE/SA, Israel v. all of Gaza AND the West Bank, the whole al-Suwaida thing in Syria plus Kurds in the north, explosions in Iraq (Irbil), Mali and BF vs. JNIM/CMA, some kind of craziness in Chad (involving Russia's Africa Corps), and god only knows what's happening in (regular) Sudan these days.
On the brink of breaking out again soon: Libya (GNA v. Haftar), Somalia vs Jubaland, Ethiopia v. Tigray/Eritrea, Venezuela v. Guyana (Essequibo), India vs. China (Arunachal Pradesh, esp with the new water issue), India v. Pakistan (esp J&K), and of course Israel v. Iran. Plus those dirty bastards in Azerbaijan are always up to no good.
Got to admit, not looking so good for poor old 2025. About the only positive news is that France, Germany, and the UK are rapidly running out of money so are increasingly unable to stir the pot in their usual high-handed way.
The need to keep the war going at all costs is a sickening reflection of our sadistic ruling elite but is not surprising when one looks back over the last couple of hundred years. What is surprising is the sheer desperation and lack of cohesion in their efforts. It's hard to fathom how batshit crazy our western world is sometimes and rather worryingly, how crazier it might get. The war may last till 2034 sort of tells you how far our lunatics are willing to go with this.