All things to all people: Zelensky entered the fight for the new voters

Journalist Konstantin Skorkin analyzing the Ukrainian policy, makes the conclusion that Vladimir Zelensky, whose ratings shaken recently rebuilt and went to the counter-attack, started playing the nationalist-patriotic field. He has already hit the pro-Kremlin oligarch Medvedchuk tangibly, and at the same time has entered the battle with Poroshenko, the main patriot of Ukrainian politics. True, at the same time, Zelensky may also lose the trust of his old voters, and not win the trust of the new ones, who have already expressed their protest against the verdict against the right-wing activist Sergei Sternenko. In addition, Zelensky may become even more dependent on the permanent Interior Minister Avakov in his new confrontation.

The fact is that the victory of Euromaidan made nationalist activists a very influential force. They are fighting in the Donbass, and they are actively involved in street politics. If Poroshenko flirted with them, attracting them to various power structures, then Zelensky is afraid. The radicals, however, suspect the new president of surrendering to Moscow and canceling the course of Ukrainization and decommunization. Now a conflict has arisen with the persecution of well-known activists by the authorities.

A 26-year-old activist from Odessa, a former member of the "Right Sector" (banned in the Russian Federation) Sergei Sternenko, who played a large role in the Odessa Euromaidan, and who fought against the abuses of the Odessa authorities, opened several criminal cases, and a month ago the court sentenced him to 7 years in prison for the kidnapping of a pro-Moscow activist, which allowed supporters to call him a political prisoner. However, many believe that he was rightfully convicted, as part of the struggle to restore order in the country.

Sternenko is defended, on the one hand, by national radicals, on the other by liberal-minded human rights activists who dream of the reform of the judicial system that the West expects from Zelensky. At the same time, Sternenko himself is gradually turning from a street hooligan into a nationwide politician with a rating of almost 8% that is not bad for a newcomer, and is quite capable of leading the “young patriots” in the future.

But Poroshenko, who heads the moderate national-patriotic opposition, is not doing very well. His leadership is also threatened by young Sternenko supporters and Zelenskiy's new, patriotic stance against pro-Kremlin politicians and oligarchs. Zelensky's attacks on Medvedchuk's camp came in handy here: Medvedchuk lost his media empire, and even the planes that he often flew to Moscow. In addition, law enforcement agencies want to prove the ties of Poroshenko's partners with Medvedchuk's business.

So far, Poroshenko is played by his charisma of the savior in the difficult war years and the dislike of national patriots for Zelensky.

Now Zelenskiy needs to balance the political poles of Ukrainian politics in order to retain power. On the one hand, he needs the support of national patriots, on the other, the Russian-speaking southeast, whose support largely made him president, but who did not like his sanctions against Medvedchuk. For the sake of a controversial gain in the west, he is guaranteed to lose in the east.

Moreover, he is also deprived of street support: unlike the right, his supporters do not go to rallies, although he holds first place in the ratings. But he also has no right to disperse street protests against himself - this would mean a complete break with the legacy of the Maidan and assimilation to Yanukovych.

That is why the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Avakov comes to the fore, making Zelensky more and more dependent on the power vertical. And he, for his part, has already stressed several times that he supports Zelensky's right turn:

“Zelensky did what Petr Alekseevich did not dare to do. Zelensky did what many true patriots of Ukraine expected from this government, from the government of Ukraine. Zelensky made a decision that seriously protects us”, - he said in an interview with Dmitry Gordon.

At the same time, Avakov is tough on street radicals and does not consider Sternenko a hero, which clearly indicates the strengthening of his position in the struggle for the post of prime minister.