By Giorgos Harvalias
Friends and readers are asking me more and more often how it is possible that, after everything that is happening, Zelensky remains at the helm of Ukraine.
Deep down, people—myself included—are looking to his removal as a source of hope, wondering whether it might help us avoid World War III, which is now gathering momentum thanks to the irresponsible leadership of the EU’s “coalition of the willing.” Yet they understandably ask: what on earth is going on?
Every day they see scenes from inside the war-torn country. They see the horrific methods of conscription in the streets and squares, the brutish “heavies” dressed in camouflage uniforms who seize men from the arms of their wives and children. They see neo-Nazis of the autocephalous Ukrainian Church entering churches armed, smashing pews and dragging priests by their beards because they conduct services in Russian.
And every day they hear of a new scandal erupting in Zelensky’s inner circle, with the protagonists fleeing while loaded with cases of euros and dollars, bound for unknown exotic destinations. While ordinary citizens are being killed and suffering, the noose of corruption is tightening ever further around the Ukrainian regime and its arrogant leader, who stubbornly refuses to submit himself to the judgment of the electorate.
“How is it possible, after everything this unfortunate country has been through, that his own people have not overthrown him first?” they ask me.
I will try to answer that question through the lens of someone far more qualified to explain: the Ukrainian historian Marta Havryshko, who can hardly be accused of harboring pro-Russian sympathies.
Havryshko, who specializes in the study of the Jewish Holocaust, initially highlighted crimes of violence committed by the invading Russian forces against Ukrainian women. At the same time, however, she became increasingly critical of the Zelensky regime—first, for its links with neo-Nazi factions, and second, for signs of corruption and decay at the highest levels of the state apparatus.
She quickly fell out of favor and, in 2025, was officially dismissed from the University of Lviv. She has since sought refuge in the United States, where she has been teaching in recent years.
In a recent post on X, Havryshko explains the reasons why Zelensky “cannot be moved.”
“His power,” she notes, “rests on multiple pillars of Western sponsorship. They have every reason to maintain this kind of Ukrainian leadership, willing to shoulder NATO’s proxy war against Russia.
“Zelensky himself is surrounded by paramilitary groups of praetorians, supplied with heavy and modern Western weaponry. These are Azov-type units that have now been organized into regular military formations, together with other extremist neo-Nazi groups.
“Their ideological core consists of people devoted to Zelensky, prepared to fight the Russians indefinitely and by any means, even if all of humanity is destroyed. That is why every reasonable peace negotiation is immediately branded as Ukrainian capitulation.”
“And on the other side,” Havryshko says, “there are the oligarchs and the military-industrial complex. War is business, and for some it is an especially profitable one.
“Companies such as Fire Point”—the largest Ukrainian producer of missiles and drones—“have every commercial incentive to keep the orders flowing. If the war lasts another decade, they will find another strategic objective to sell: the total crushing of Moscow and the breakup of present-day Russia.”
There is, however, a third group of warmongers who dress themselves in the clothing of humanitarians.
“It is what is known as civil society,” the Ukrainian historian explains, continuing:
“Hundreds of non-governmental organizations, established by Western institutions, present their mission in the name of democracy, reforms, ‘de-Russification,’ and whatever else sounds attractive on the NGO menu.”
In reality, this network functions as a vast conduit of Western influence, helping turn Ukraine into a forward military outpost against Moscow.
Havryshko concludes:
“So explain to me, then, how ordinary people are supposed to get rid of this whole merry brotherhood of vampires, who shout ‘Slava Ukraini’ in unison in their festive costumes while draining the country’s blood?”
This final pillar supporting the Zelensky regime, which Havryshko describes so vividly and bitterly, may perhaps be the solution to the puzzle.
Consider this: according to official figures from Ukraine’s State Statistics Service, more than… 135,000 NGOs—organizations, educational bodies, associations and charities—are licensed to operate in the country.
This is an exceptionally large “community of volunteers” that, in reality, feeds generously off the war.
That, then, is why Zelensky survives.
An international system supports him that operates, even at the highest level, on the logic of “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.”
If one link in the chain breaks and the Ukrainian satrap comes crashing down, the climate inside the war-torn country could change overnight. People may begin to speak, the code of silence may be broken, and some people in very senior European positions may find themselves in serious trouble.
This collective affection and generous financial assistance toward a corrupt administrator of power cannot be explained in purely political terms or—still less—in economic terms, having already excluded the realm of morality, with which today’s European leaders have not the slightest connection.
Something else is being concealed—something Havryshko did not dare address, but which I believe becomes obvious to the average citizen.
Some of the money intended for Ukraine is being returned to the pockets of those who initialed the checks.
