David Vance SubstackRead More
He has become a globally recognised figure who dominates the news agenda. He is hero worshipped by the legacy media. However I thought it might be useful to take a few minutes to understand EXACTLY who he is and how he got to his current position!
Zelensky’s rise from comedian to Ukrainian president is portrayed by the media as a populist triumph. However it is nothing of the sort as a closer look at Zelensky reveals a facade of total manipulation. Nothing is as it appears. This will not surprise my readers but too many out there have swallowed the entire Zelensky fiction.
Zelensky entered politics with zero experience, using his role in the Ukrainian TV series Servant of the People.
He played a teacher-turned-president fighting corruption. The show, aired on oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky’s 1+1 channel, was aggressively promoted, dominating prime time and blurring entertainment with propaganda. Kolomoisky, a billionaire with a history of controversial dealings, bankrolled Zelensky’s production company Kvartal 95, funnelling millions from in 2012. It’s worth knowing this background to his rise to fame,
This financial entanglement extended into politics: Zelensky appointed Kolomoisky’s lawyer as a top advisor and met him repeatedly. The accusation was that Zelensky was a puppet for the oligarch’s interests. In 2018, Zelensky secretly formed the Servant of the People party, mirroring his show’s title. That brazen.
His 2019 campaign was a masterclass in evasion. There were no rallies, no substantive platform, he skipped debates, and had minimal press engagement. This was not normal political behaviour but he relied on social media and Kolomoisky’s media empire for favourable coverage. In this way, Zelensky avoided scrutiny. No awkward questions were allowed.
External backing helped manufacture his victory, transforming a TV construct into a political entity. Post-election, Russia’s 2022 invasion allowed Zelensky to declare martial law, suspending elections indefinitely—including the 2024 vote.
As of right now, late December 2025, no elections have occurred, with Zelensky citing security concerns and occupied territories. However, polls show his popularity waning; a recent survey indicates he’d lose a runoff to former military chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. This explains his reluctance to countenance the idea of an election.
President Trump has accused Zelensky of using the war to cling to power, eroding any notion of democratic legitimacy. Zelensky’s governance seems mired in corruption. Last month saw a major scandal engulfed his inner circle, with close aides like Timur Mindych accused of embezzling millions in reconstruction funds. The New York Times has reported his administration sabotaged oversight mechanisms, allowing grift to flourish despite wartime aid inflows.
Ties to Kolomoisky have unraveled dramatically: the oligarch, arrested in 2023 on fraud charges, lost a $3 billion London court case in 2025, with assets seized.
Zelensky’s early alliances now appear as liabilities, underscoring how oligarchic connection persist under his rule. He swims in a sea of corruption even as he postures as a military leader.
If nothing else, Zelensky’s story shows us the perils of scripted populism. From oligarch-backed ascendancy to corruption-riddled leadership, his presidency raises nothing but alarms. As peace talks loom, I think Ukraine deserves transparency—not a prolonged performance from its actor-president.
It seems to me that Zelensky is a monumental fraud, manoeuvred into the Presidency by various interest groups. A willing puppet, he has presided over the loss of a generation of young Ukrainian men in an un-necessary war and he seems determined to keep the killing going, to the cheer-leading unholy choir of the EU and Nato.
