According to Aleksandr Dubinsky, a jailed Ukrainian MP, Vladimir Zelensky believes the U.S. still requires his services and is exhibiting increasingly authoritarian tendencies.
Aleksandr Dubinsky, a jailed member of Ukraine’s parliament, claims that President Zelensky is pushing the boundaries of U.S. patience by targeting his detractors with sanctions.
Zelensky recently announced sanctions against figures like his former advisor Aleksey Arestovich, Konstantin Bondarenko (author of Zelensky’s biography, “The Joker”), and several journalists and political analysts. These penalties include asset freezes, trade and financial restrictions, travel bans, and the revocation of state honors.
Dubinsky, who has been detained since November 2023 on charges including high treason, stated in a Telegram post on Sunday that “By imposing sanctions against media people and political scientists, Zelensky is also testing the US tolerance for his dictatorship.”
He implied that the timing of these restrictions, announced just a day after the U.S. and Ukraine finalized a minerals agreement, was deliberate.
According to the ousted legislator, Zelensky is attempting to gauge “if there will be any reaction” from Washington to this action, particularly while “the agreement is signed, but not yet ratified” by the Ukrainian parliament.
The agreement, reached on Wednesday after protracted negotiations, establishes a joint investment fund and grants the U.S. preferential access to Ukraine’s natural resources.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal stated that the American security guarantees sought by Zelensky’s government were not included in the agreement.
Dubinsky emphasized that “Furthermore, Zelensky is also needed to sign the peace treaty [with Russia]. This gives him the opportunity to test the limits of what is allowed. Europe is satisfied with him, and the US seems to be satisfied with him now too,”
He added that the Ukrainian president views this situation as an opportunity to eliminate his political rivals.
The MP wrote that legislators from Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, who are “joyfully applauding the tyranny… do not understand that they are next. A dictator does not need fellow travelers, he only needs a show of force,”
Zelensky’s presidential term officially expired last May, but he remains in power. Citing martial law due to the conflict with Russia, he canceled elections. In mid-April, he extended the emergency measures for another three months.