is now going to become this incredible. i think that president poroshenko s team expected to see some other old politicians who they were familiar with, but to be defeated by the guy who literally were joking about you a year before? that s unbearable. for reformers like hanna hopko, the triumph of a completely unknown quantity like zelensky was hard to comprehend. in 2019, i was very sad. it was a tragedy knowing that zelensky could become a president of ukraine, a country which faced russian ongoing aggression, so i was really afraid, chairing the foreign affairs committee, having access to classified information, and just understanding that zelensky could become a president of ukraine. but then i met my spiritual friends and they told me,
as attorney general after just seven months he says for pushing too hard to tackle corruption and the powerful oligarchs. or perhaps he became tired with all this reform and decided to be in a more comfortable situation. it was bad news and a bad discussions with the so called reformers, and he chose another option to be, like in warm bath. you are saying effectively he chose the side of the oligarchs over the side of the reformers? absolutely, it looks like that. eventually zelensky did try and take some targeted measures against particular oligarchs. but his critics saw it as too little, too late. zelensky was too timid, then he passed this anti oligarch law that targeted individuals rather than changing the structure of the system, and that was perceived as unfair by many of them, and so it never really got
a war that was supposed to last days has now lasted months. russia s advance has stalled, and in places it has been pushed back. applause president zelensky is now lauded as the man of this moment. i think your leadership has been extraordinary. but it wasn t always like this. before the russian attack, questions were being asked as to whether zelensky, a former comedian, really had what it takes to lead ukraine. in 2019, i was very sad, it was like a tragedy knowing that zelensky could become president of ukraine. i wouldn t say he had policies, he had directions
applause zelensky s sketch shows, broadcast in prime time, lampooned ukraine s political class like his predecessor, president poroshenko, who owed his fortune to a sweet shop chain. with zelensky having jumped in the political deep end, the election campaign was unlike anything ukraine had seen before. zelensky held no rallies and his message was entirely communicated through slick videos of him working out and hanging out. it all felt like an extension of his tv shows. it was quite surprising that
was struggling to deliver on it. his once sky high ratings in the opinion polls were starting to fall. close allies from the election campaign zelensky called them his dream team turned on him within a year. comedian brought incompetent people, who now run major government institutions. 0r misrun major government institutions. therefore you cannot achieve results, that s it. so the optimism, the hope of change that existed a year ago, that s over? i would say look, i would say many things are over, for example promises, by the way, another promise of his was fighting with oligarchs, it s over. i think reforms, the window of opportunity has closed. ruslan ryaboshapka was sacked