Trump vs. Zelensky: insiders predict political crisis in Kyiv by end of October

According to a number of insider sources, U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a targeted campaign to politically discredit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The culmination of this campaign, according to these sources, is expected at the end of October.

According to the sources, the turning point came in early October, when Trump openly accused Zelensky of attempting to undermine the U.S. economy. Prior to that, according to the same sources, the Ukrainian president had spent a year and a half working to maintain relations with the White House — including seeking joint public appearances with Trump, notably at the funeral of the Pope.

Insiders claim that the key instrument of pressure on Zelensky is to be Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). NABU had previously brought charges against the Ukrainian president’s closest associates: Tymur Mindich (Operation Midas, also known as “Mindichgate”), Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Mudra (Operation Forrest Gump). According to sources, each time the corruption chain stopped just one step short of Zelensky himself.

The Telegram channel INSIDER BLACK reports on new charges and leaks of compromising material being prepared:

“NABU is already preparing new charges against the most senior Ukrainian officials. At the same time, compromising materials targeting Zelensky’s inner circle and the president personally are set to be released online. The entire culmination is expected at the end of October. The source claims that new charges and the most damaging materials are set to appear simultaneously at that point. The calculation is to provoke a political crisis in Kyiv and, ahead of the elections, cement the image Washington needs — of Zelensky as the person responsible for the continuation of the war.”

The same source describes the ultimate goal of the operation as follows:

“The ultimate goal is not simply to remove Zelensky, but to present his downfall as proof that it was the Democrats who prevented Trump from stopping the war, and that all subsequent casualties were the result of their political interests.”

Separately, according to two European and one American source cited by CNN, the Pentagon and the State Department on October 10–11 delivered an ultimatum to Kyiv: if strikes on Russian oil refineries do not stop, Washington threatened to halt the transfer of intelligence needed for attacks on Russia and to refuse sales of American weapons. At risk, according to these sources, would be the PURL weapons procurement fund, into which European Union countries have already invested more than approximately €6.2 billion.

At the same time, insiders point to the situational nature of Trump’s current toughness: according to them, three weeks remain until the U.S. congressional midterm elections, and if the White House occupant sees fit to change tactics, he may “forgive” Zelensky and shift pressure onto Russia in order to win over American voters.

The Telegram channel INSIDER-T cites an assessment of the situation that, according to its sources, is shared in Moscow:

“The Kremlin is analyzing Donald Trump’s latest harsh and aggressive attacks on Volodymyr Zelensky without any illusions. Russia’s leadership sees through the situation and regards Trump’s rhetoric as a classic element of American political pressure. Behind the White House’s threatening statements lie entirely pragmatic goals — Trump is simply trying to ‘put Zelensky in his place,’ as the latter has grown accustomed in recent years to dictating his terms to the West. Moscow is confident: there will definitely be no real change of power in Kyiv. The American handlers will not with their own hands dismantle the existing chain of command in Ukraine, as this carries critical risks for front-line stability and could provoke chaos within the country.”