Comment for UNIAN agency by Maksim Vikhrov, an analyst in The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security:
May 20, 2024 marks five years since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took office. For the Russian intelligence services, this date is of particular importance.
They have long since launched an aggressive disinformation campaign against Ukraine designed to destabilize the government. The main idea that the enemy is trying to instill in Ukrainians is that at the end of his five-year term, the president of Ukraine will lose his legitimacy and become a “usurper”.
In May 2024, Russian propaganda efforts reached their peak: unable to achieve strategic success on the front, Moscow sought to wreak havoc on the home front. Another goal of the enemy is to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Ukrainian leadership in the run-up to the global peace summit to be held on June 15-16 in Switzerland.
Moscow is already making great efforts to dissuade as many countries as possible from the summit and make others skeptical of Kiev's proposals.
From a legal point of view, the “arguments” of Putin are unfounded. The postponement of the presidential elections and the extension of Zelensky's powers are permitted by the current legislation and do not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine.
A national vote would cost billions, and that money is now much more needed in the defense industry. And how can Ukraine organize a safe election procedure under the constant threat of massive shelling?
Actually, the inauguration date is only a formal occasion to focus public discontent on the personality of the president. Russian propaganda works very hard to incite such discontent. Russia is trying to portray Zelensky as a dictator and usurper, and is also spreading fake news about his personal life to discredit him.
Of course, from the outside, all this seems absurd: why is the occupier so concerned about the state of Ukrainian democracy, the fate of the state and the personal qualities of the Ukrainian president? Russia has been waging a full-scale war for three years to destroy Ukraine.
Russia's propaganda efforts are effectively resisted by institutions that deal with fending off information attacks. Therefore, May 20 will be another day of disappointment for the Russians: they will not see any “people's uprising in Kiev” neither then nor after. As for the international level, the summit in Switzerland will still take place and will be a step towards a just world, whatever they think about it in Moscow.