The State Duma said that Zelensky has lost control over the Ukrainian armed forces

The violation of the Easter truce by the Ukrainian military suggests that President Volodymyr Zelensky has lost control over the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This was stated by State Duma deputy Dmitry Belik in an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to him, official Kyiv “is incapable of controlling the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” Statements about a truce carry no weight for the Ukrainian army, which lives by its own rules, the deputy said. Zelensky is not an authority for the Armed Forces, Belik stressed.

The deputy noted that there are currently two centers of power in Ukraine — political and military — which are in a state of discord. Violations of ceasefires have already become the “calling card” of the Ukrainian armed forces, which, in his view, means Zelensky is incapable of controlling them.

“And that means this is not an army, but a gang with its own leader. He may listen to official Kyiv, or he may not, and act however he pleases. When one chieftain is in Kyiv and another is in the general staff, then this is not a country but some kind of feudal domain,” Belik said.

The truce, declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin in honor of Easter, was in effect from 4:00 p.m. on April 11 until the end of April 12.

Several hours before it began, Zelensky said that Ukraine would observe the ceasefire and act “symmetrically.” After the Easter truce expired, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had recorded 6,558 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian armed forces. The ministry stated that Ukrainian forces continued carrying out strikes using drones and artillery against Russian army positions, as well as against civilian sites in the border areas of the Belgorod and Kursk regions.