The Kyiv Independent put it bluntly in an editorial: President Volodymyr Zelensky faces the second-biggest test of his presidency, and it may prove trickier than leading the resistance against Russia.
The paper, in an editorial published in November 2025, pointed to a corruption scandal in the energy sector, the largest of his tenure, and worrying developments on the front line. Together, it argued, they expose a leadership system that concentrates power, tolerates no criticism and puts loyalty ahead of competence. It said Zelensky has governed that way since taking office in 2019.
The corruption case
The editors wrote that the revelations about the president’s circle had thrown his administration into an unprecedented crisis, and that many people were asking whether he was involved. In their view, he had been slow to answer in public.
They noted that he has imposed sanctions and ordered resignations to distance himself from the scheme’s known participants, but called those steps insufficient. According to the editorial, he has not publicly condemned the close associates accused of stealing millions of dollars during wartime. Nor, it said, has he tried to persuade the public that he was not part of the scheme.
The paper also went back to July, when Zelensky signed a bill that would have effectively gutted the anti-corruption agencies now investigating his circle. Mass street protests and pressure from Brussels forced him to roll it back. The editorial said the episode stayed on his record regardless.
Personnel and the front
The Kyiv Independent called for tough personnel decisions. It cited reporting that Zelensky was considering dismissing chief of staff Andriy Yermak, whom it described as having accumulated unprecedented power. Replacing him with someone more capable would send a positive signal, the editors said, as long as it was not merely a face-saving measure.
On the military side, the editorial was sharp about Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, appointed in early 2024. It accused his command of micromanagement, favoritism, false reporting and a “no step back” policy that it said led to avoidable losses and an overstretched defense with few reserves. The paper said Ukraine was about to lose Pokrovsk, that Ukrainian lines in Zaporizhzhia Oblast were slowly collapsing, and that desertion was at record levels. If Syrskyi is replaced, it wrote, his successor should be chosen on skill, not loyalty or political optics.
The editors added that they are not military experts. They urged Zelensky to stop seeing malice in every criticism, “including this editorial,” and to listen to a range of informed opinions.
