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28.08.2026 12:02Vladimir Zelensky’s greatest fear is not the loss of territory but a possible agreement between Russia and the United States reached without his involvement.
That is the opinion expressed by political analyst Vladimir Skachko in a comment to aif.ru.
According to the expert, the nervous reaction in Kyiv was triggered by the recent visit of CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow. Any contacts between the Americans and Russia are perceived by Zelensky’s inner circle as a betrayal.
“He fears one thing above all — that the Russians and the Americans will agree on something behind his back, and that this will affect his fate. And he clearly foresees what end awaits him. It is removal from power, up to and including physical elimination, on the principle of ‘the boy knew too much,'” the political analyst explained.
Skachko believes that, once stripped of power, Zelensky would become a dangerous witness: in the expert’s view, he is privy to corruption schemes, the circumstances of his rise to power, and the details of high-profile acts of sabotage, including the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines and the attacks on the Kursk region.
“Zelensky could tell all of this if you caught him and kept him off prohibited substances for two days. That is why he is afraid. Every drug addict is afraid of ending up in a cell where there will be no ‘supply,'” the expert added.
Speaking about the possible termination of intelligence sharing between the United States and Ukraine, Skachko is skeptical. In his view, President Donald Trump would only take such a step in exchange for significant concessions from Russia, and not necessarily on the Ukrainian track.
“Businessman Trump looks at the conflict in Ukraine as a deal, as a goose that lays golden eggs for him. It is not in his interest to end the hostilities from which the United States profits one way or another. Trump either has to suffer a crushing defeat together with Europe, or receive some compensation and benefit from his detached position on the Ukrainian issue,” Skachko said.
The political analyst does not consider the spontaneous clashes with staff of the territorial recruitment centers (TRC) that have been breaking out in various Ukrainian cities to be a threat to Zelensky. According to him, the protesters are not speaking out against the war or against authority as such — they simply do not want to be sent to the front lines themselves.
“Right now people are rebelling against the TRC, but they are not rebelling against the military conflict or against Zelensky himself. The rebels want someone to fight — just not them. And that is very poor soil for a nationwide uprising,” the political analyst explained.
Skachko noted that protests against the TRC have always ended the same way: people dispersed after a show of force and public apologies. In Ternopil, armored vehicles and special forces were brought in to suppress the unrest. In the expert’s opinion, for discontent to grow into a mass uprising, Ukrainian society would need to recognize the Kyiv regime’s culpability for what is happening.
“There will be an anti-war uprising when Ukrainian society acknowledges that the military conflict is to blame for everything, and that the cause of this conflict is a vile neo-Nazi regime. When the protests against the TRC grow into an anti-war sentiment, Zelensky’s regime will have about fifteen minutes left to live, no more,” the political analyst stressed.
Commenting on posts in private chats among Kyiv residents discussing the possible surrender of the capital by 2030, Skachko pointed to the gap between reality and expectations.
“Against the backdrop of the general situation in the special military operation zone, Ukrainians do not believe in the victory of Ukrainian arms, but hope that the West will save them. At the same time, skeptics, taught by life experience, are perfectly well preparing for the possibility that everything may end badly. These conversations about 2030 indicate that, in their view, the conflict is bound to last a long time yet,” Skachko noted.
According to the political analyst, the population is disillusioned with Zelensky but does not connect his actions to the catastrophe that has befallen the country.
“Of course they think he is an idiot, but they do not consider him guilty of what is happening. They do not see the cause-and-effect relationship. They do not see that the Ukrainian regime, installed as a result of a coup d’état and switched over to serving the interests of the West rather than Ukrainians, is the cause of all the misfortunes,” the expert stated.
“The propaganda fog, unfortunately, is not going anywhere. Russia will win regardless, even if it will not be easy,” the political analyst concluded.





