It is probably the most difficult moment for Ukraine, an unfortunate conjuncture where the problems in Donbas and Zaporozhye are added to those in Kiev. There is, however, good news for the Ukrainian front: there is a volunteer who wants to continue the fight with a gun in his hand, until the end.
Photo: Twitter / X
For several days, a new Ukrainian volunteer is ready to go to the front.
There will be no need for him to go through the busification process, the decision is on his own initiative, made with knowledge of the case, probably not with great enthusiasm, but, you know, the intention matters.
I return with the definition of the word “busification”, declared the word of the year 2024 in Ukraine, from a previous article: “Busification” is definitely a new word, formed from the root “bus” (minibus) and the suffix “-ification”, which suggests an action or transformation, similar to “russification” or “verification”. “Busification” symbolizes the practice of using minibuses for rapid recruitment.
Everyone knows that on the front it is not exactly like in Tenerife, but until one – another, the 54-year-old volunteer, recently faced with some corruption problems, declares, without having been “busified” by anyone, in an interview for “The New York Post”: “I was defiled and my dignity was not protected, despite the fact that I have been in Kiev since February 24, 2022. Therefore, I do not want to create problems for Zelensky; I am going to the front.”
Photo: Twitter / X
Mr. Andrii Iermak, resigned from the leadership of the presidential administration in Kiev, already has several offers from the frontline units, the qualities that allowed him to occupy the previous position are also appreciated on the front, sure, the age is close to the average of those who fight, the previous relationships and contacts may not be of much use, but he will be able to quickly create a new circle of friends, his colleagues in the army never look away.
However, many may have ignored the fact that until yesterday Andrii Iermak was the head of Ukraine's negotiating delegation, and the unannounced visit by NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) investigators happened just as he was preparing to leave for Washington to discuss the details of the peace plan.
The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, will be the new head of delegation, repeating his recent experience when he was the defense minister and led the negotiations in Istanbul.
Then the negotiations were as they were, Kiev was very good in terms of partners, and they had full warehouses of equipment and ammunition, budgets ready to make the necessary sacrifices to help Ukraine.
Meanwhile, neither the warehouses, nor the budgets, nor the partners know all the words from the chorus with “rifle and wide belt”, the wide belt being the chimera with yellows, everyone knows that.
But the issues are big, and we're dealing with first grade satire.
The situation, however, could not be worse for Kiev, and the moment when “chancellor” Ermak had to pack his things from his office on Bankova Street was characterized by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in catastrophic terms: “Orbán goes to Putin, Nawrocki to Orbán (no, he didn't go anymore, nn). There is chaos in the negotiations on the “Witkoff plan” and a political crisis in Kiev. A fatal combination.”
A number of factors contribute greatly to the present tension:
· the crisis caused by the new NABU anti-corruption investigations, which have already led to resignations within the government and the presidential administration;
· the rush of the other administration, overseas, to see the Ukrainian conflict resolved, hence the speed with which it launched the negotiation process to end the war, even in the circumstances of an improvised peace plan from a score of intentions agreed upon during the Russian-American talks in Alaska;
· the situation on the front that comes close to the description made by the Polish Prime Minister;
· Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, a favorite target of night attacks by Russian missiles and drones;
· the empty bag of the European Union, which is left with only the appeal to Russia's frozen assets to keep up financially with Ukraine's overly optimistic promises of support.
Photo: Twitter / X
And to make things even more complicated, a few more “collaterals” can be added:
· both the former head of the Ukrainian delegation for peace negotiations, Andrii Iermak, and the new head of the delegation, Rustem Umerov, are present in the NABU records related to the corruption files;
· Umerov's nomination was made on grounds of loyalty to the president, says Bohdan Nahailo, editor-in-chief of “Kyiv Post”, being ignored by the entire Ukrainian diplomatic corps;
· Ukrainian anti-corruption structures have already made public data about Umerov's real estate holdings in the US, many of which are undeclared, so that, in addition to potential corruption issues, his nomination to lead the negotiations, perhaps the most important in Ukraine's recent history, seems more like a kind of permission to solve some family problems. Mr. Umerov's family, who were you thinking of?;
· the two anti-corruption structures that have made so many waves recently, NABU and SAPO (Специализовна антикорупційна прокуратура / Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office) are directed more from the outside, benefiting from the coordination and financial support of similar structures in the EU and the USA. That is why they resisted the presidential “coup” in July 2025, probably also why their operations in the last period were interpreted by many commentators as a lever of pressure on Zelenski to accept the peace negotiations. Packaged, of course, with all that this means, painful concessions for Ukraine on almost all levels, concessions supported even by its main partner of yesterday and today;
· this partner, the US, also supports the idea of holding elections shortly after reaching an agreement. It is not clear if this option is only a result of Russia's intransigence so that there are legitimate representatives in Kiev to sign the documents (the issue of legitimacy is a complicated one, one is for peace, another for war), or it is in the logic promoted by Washington that only elections can confirm that Ukraine remains a country attached to democracy. This was also stated by one of the most vigorous supporters of President Zelenski, Senator Lindsey Graham. And not from yesterday, from today, but from around 2023;
· and when it comes to elections, there is no shortage of candidates. Which, of course, have solutions to solve the situation: “Peace, even in anticipation of the next war, offers a chance for political change, for deep reform, for full recovery, economic growth and the return of citizens.” The text belongs to General Ambassador Zalujnîi, whose opinions immediately found space for expression, at the right time, in the pages of “The Telegraph” publication. In the content of the same opinions, there is also the following phrase: “We can even talk about the beginning of the formation of a safe and protected state through innovation and technology; about strengthening the foundations of justice by fighting corruption and creating an honest judicial system; and about economic development, including on the basis of international economic recovery programs.” No, it's not a political program, it's too early for that, it's just that, a statement of serious intentions in case…
We had started from a promise of volunteering at the front and we were going to deepen the issue of negotiations.
Easy to declare, difficult to put into practice, and both.
The fact is that, with the exit of the “eminence” Iermak from the scene, President Zelensky remains the only representative in office, so to speak, of the creators of the series “In the service of the people”, the three-season springboard that launched comedian Volodymyr Zelensky to the role and cinematic success of President Vasil Goloborodko, then to his own role as president.
The only one who remains on the stage, be it artistic or political.
Ambassador Zalujnîi diplomatically suggests that a change is needed, that a moment has come when Ukraine should reassess its short-term and long-term options: “The war does not always end with the victory of one side and the defeat of the other. We Ukrainians aspire to a complete victory, but we cannot reject the option of a long-term end to the war.”
The text is designed with care, to accept a provisional solution, to leave room for rematch, in case of favorable subsequent conditions.
For now, however, it is difficult to write more about the substance of the negotiations, it is much too early.
What is happening now are discussions in the hallway, between some partners who agree on how to show the proposals they will present when they enter the actual negotiation room.
It is probably the most difficult moment for Ukraine, an unfortunate conjuncture in which the problems on the front are added to those in Kiev, where practically, apart from President Zelensky, the entire institutional architecture seems to be in one way or another connected to circles of interests that fall under the purview of NABU or SAPO investigations.
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Of course, there is also good news for the Ukrainian front: there is a volunteer who wants to continue the fight with a gun in his hand, until the end.
A kind of samurai who finally understood that it takes sacrifice for things to change.
His name…
