Zelensky won the run-off election for President of Ukraine

Or as Bernhard at MoA puts it:  ‘Ukraine Election – Voters Defeat Second Color Revolution’, July 22, 2019, moonofalabama.org

He begins with a fairly concise version of the Western-orchestrated revolution in 2014 in which Victor Yanukovitch failed to sign the EU Association deal that would bind Ukraine not only to the West, but to NATO.  Russia had countered with a better deal:

“It offered billions in investments and long term loans. Much of Ukraine’s industry depends on Russia and Russian gas was offered to the Ukraine for less than the international market price. Yanukovych, who originally wanted to sign the EU association, had no choice but to refuse it, and to take the much better deal Russia offered.”

This isn’t quite how I’d remembered the timing of this, but b writes that the armed battles between the Galician and the police at Maidan Square , as well as snipers from Georgia firing on both sides was what had caused Yanokovitch to “lose his nerve and flee to Russia”.  But I’ll gladly yield to his expertise and memory.  But after some legal shenanigans, a new election was held, and the West’s favorite puppet Petro Poroshenko the Chocolate King was declared the winner. “Fuck the EU!” (Battle-cry of Nulandia & Co.)

“The unreconstructed fascists from Galicia took over. The population in the industrial heartland in east Ukraine, next to Russia’s border, revolted against the new rulers. A civil war, not a ‘Russian invasion’, ensued which the Ukrainian government largely lost. Lugansk and Donbas became rebel controlled statelets which depend of Russia. Russia took back Crimea, which in 1954 had been illegally gifted to Ukraine by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, himself a Ukrainian.”

More accurately, Crimeans voted to rejoin Russia, and almost all were Russian-speaking, and culturally bonded to Mother Russia.

“On March 31 new elections were held. Volodymyr Zelensky, a TV comedian who played a teacher who accidentally became president [in the series called Servant of the People, after which name he’d branded his political party], won the first round. Zelensky is of Jewish heritage and from the east Ukraine. He speaks Russian, not Ukrainian.

The April run-off vote between Zelensky and Poroshenko was a disaster for the latter. Zelensky received 73% of the votes. The only districts where Poroshenko won were in Galicia, where the descendants of the fascist who fought in World War II on the Nazi side still follow their forefathers ideology.”

Bernhard writes that Zelensky wants to end the war in the east and establish closer ties with Russia, and end government corruption.  I’ll take that at face value, as it seems that Zelensky has evolved a bit since I’d written up the March election, candidates. commentary, photos, etc. (Café version, C99% version), but b will have paid closer attention.

Back then, advisors to NATO, the Atlantic Council had endorsed ‘the Joker Zelensky as ‘the only decent choice’ because: rooting out corruption, which I’d interpreted to mean: enabling Ukraine to pony up its dues to join NATO, and

“A serious analysis of his record yields a different picture. His “Kvartal 95” shows have a long tradition of sharp and profound criticism of Ukraine’s utterly unfair political system, starting well before the Maidan. He has consistently criticized Russia’s aggression in Crimea and the Donbas and ridiculed Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskiy donated part of the money he earned in Russia to Ukrainians fighting in the Donbas, which led the Russian authorities to open a criminal case against him.”

...although it may be a tissue of lies, but I will say that  iirc a few of b’s readers had challenged his minimzing Zelensky as a front man for oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi, so we’ll hope for the best.

But arguably, the reason he’s chosen to publish this report now is that Zelensky’s political party seems to be winning a lot of seats in the Ukrainian Parliament (the Rada).

“But the parliament, still under control of the Maidan fascists, opposed him. Zelensky relieved the parliament and called for early elections. They were held yesterday and the results are now in.

Zelensky’s party, named after his former TV show ‘The Servant of the People’, put forward mostly fresh, untainted candidates. It won by a large margin. It will have more than 50% of the 450 parliament seats. The prominent fascists lost.”

Yes, there were any number of Rumbles in the Rada that had grown rather…kinetic, let’s say.

Fascists, Banderists, neo-Nazis, and how often we’ve seen Azov Battalion, Svoboda, Banderist torchlight parades and laughed: Ruh-roh! Vickie Nuland still can’t get control of her Nazis!  It was so apparent that even the Newspapers of Record were finally forced to take note.  Hmmmm.

“Shortly after Zelensky was elected as president, ‘western’ paid ‘civil society’ groups issued a joint statement threatening a “third Maidan” (I won’t include the bullet-point issues)

“The statement is signed by dozens of Soros, Omidyar, CIA and NATO funded organizations.

Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled – 17:05 UTC May 24, 2019

“Sure enough one of the signatories is “NGO ‘CentreUA‘”—same NGO, funded by Omidyar, Soros, USAID, that organized Maidan revolution. That’s like a gun pointed at Zelensky’s head. Outrageous.

Zelensky was elected by 75% of Ukrainians. Who the fuck elected Pierre Omidyar, George Soros, USAID, National Endowment for Democracy — and their “civil society” satraps — to supersede Ukraine’s democracy?”

“These ‘western’ paid organizations support the fascists [Newsweek?  w/ video Obomba and Trump]:

How can Ukraine prevent pro-Russian politics if voters prefer it? Another revolution, duh.

This movement is dubbed “The 25%,” after their support for Poroshenko’s failed reelection. Backers include allies from his party list: outgoing speaker of parliament Andriy Parubiy and state historian Volodymyr Vyatrovych — controversial nationalists who heroize figures implicated in the Holocaust as freedom fighters for independence from the Soviet Union. Parubiy takes credit for leading other Maidans. He and Vyatrovych are evangelists of “national liberation” and “national revolution” against Russian imperialism.

“If there is a third Maidan, Ukraine’s far right will lead it. Debunking Kremlin propaganda about Ukraine overrun by a fascist junta would grow even more difficult. It would also delight Moscow and further destabilize Kyiv – which is the opposite of what the West is supposed to be doing there.

One hopes that Zelensky is smart enough to foresee a “third Maidan”. He should kick out all of them from the police and other forces. He should also raise the police pay. He will need their loyalty sooner than he might think.”

The Kyiv Post is/was reporting that on July 22 with 96% of the votes counted:

“6:06 p.m. – The Servant of the People won in all of Ukraine’s districts, except for the Donbas, the city of Lviv and the west of Odesa Oblast, according to party-list representation. The Servant of the People won in districts of Lviv Oblast outside Lviv and ranked second in the region overall, while the Voice party ranked first. See a map here.

2:37 p.m. — In single-member district No. 105 in Luhansk Oblast, Serhiy Medvedchuk — brother of Opposition Platform – For Life leader Viktor Medvedchuk — has lost to his challenger, Viktoria Hryb of the Opposition Bloc. With 100 percent of the ballots counted, Hryb received 39.6 percent compared to Medvedchuk’s 31.7 percent.”

Both are pro-Russian parties.  But I reckon b’s ‘more than 50% will hold.  Here’s wishing Ukraine the best in that this may be a movement to extricate itself from the Western Hegemon, allowing Crimea to remain with Russia, and end the wars on the Independent nations in the Donbass.

(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)