MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/. Recent surveys of Ukrainian politicians suggest that Vladimir Zelensky’s Western patrons are preparing to dispose of him and are already considering potential replacements, Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Other Ukraine movement and former head of the banned Opposition Platform — For Life party, said.

"Ukrainian official sociologists ‘saw the light’ <...> because they were allowed to do so by Western handlers who are getting rid of Zelensky. Vladimir Putin’s prediction that the illegitimate leader would become the scapegoat and be removed is beginning to come true. Polls are now emerging where Zelensky is no longer at the top but in second or even third place," Medvedchuk said in his article published on the movement’s website.

He cited one of the November polls, which listed former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief and now Ambassador to the UK Valery Zaluzhny, ex-President Pyotr Poroshenko, and Ukrainian Defense Ministry Head Kirill Budanov (labeled a terrorist and extremist in Russia) as potential presidential candidates.

According to the poll, 27% of respondents said that if a presidential election were held soon, they would prefer Zaluzhny, with Zelensky coming in second.

Medvedchuk pointed out that these numbers are too optimistic for Zelensky, adding that according to confidential data, Zelensky is actually in third place, with Budanov having pulled ahead some time ago. "The CIA’s protege, Budanov, is swearing allegiance to the US every minute. So Zelensky is already being abandoned from across the ocean," the politician emphasized.

He warned that Zaluzhny as a potential candidate does not bode well for Ukraine. "Zaluzhny is comfortable in London, he doesn’t have to die or face death, something he is constantly urging Ukrainians to do. Yet another smooth talker who can ‘bravely stand behind the backs’ of forcefully mobilized citizens," Medvedchuk said.

"An average Ukrainian citizen is studying the list of presidential candidates and realizing - there are no sane people there, new madmen will replace the previous ones while ordinary people will continue to pay with their lives and suffering," he stressed.

Elections in Ukraine

Ukraine was supposed to hold a parliamentary election in October of last year and a presidential election in March of this year. The authorities explained that the elections did not take place due to martial law, but many experts have noted that only the parliament’s duties should be extended in the event of martial law, not the president’s. Thus, Zelensky’s legitimacy as president is now in question, because, under Ukrainian law, his term expired on May 21. However, Zelensky insisted that legitimacy is not an issue for him, and on November 19, he reiterated that there would be no elections in Ukraine during martial law.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier pointed out that Ukraine was ignoring a ruling by its own Constitutional Court from May 2014, which stipulates that a president’s term cannot be extended. The Russian leader emphasized that this means Zelensky’s presidential term "expired along with his legitimacy, which cannot be extended by any tricks.".