Washington Post: Old Ukrainian political divisions are reemerging

There has been an unofficial agreement among Ukraine’s raucous and highly competitive politicians since Russia invaded: Put aside old differences and form a unified front against Moscow.

It’s been a remarkable shift in a country plagued by political infighting, corruption and Russian influence since it declared independence from the dissolving Soviet Union in 1991, according to The Washington Post. 

But now, as the war grinds on and billions of dollars in international aid pours in, cracks and prewar tensions are beginning to emerge between the central government and local leaders.

Recent frictions between President Volodymyr Zelensky, the highly popular wartime leader, and Ukrainian mayors who are trying to defend or rebuild their devastated cities and towns underscore Ukraine’s mounting internal challenges as it approaches six months of the war.

Mayors and analysts told The Washington Post that Zelensky’s government appears to be trying to sideline mayors to maintain control of recovery aid and to weaken any future political rivals. More broadly, several mayors told The Post there is growing concern that amid the war, Zelensky’s administration is backtracking on promises and plans to remove a lingering vestige of the Soviet era by decentralizing power and granting more authority to regional and local governments.

“Autocratic tendencies are beginning to develop in Ukraine during the war,” said Borys Filatov, 50, the powerful mayor of Dnipro in southeastern Ukraine, a city that has become a key conduit for arms and aid to the country’s embattled eastern front. “They are trying to dominate the political field … however, we are not opponents.”

Filatov said mayors have been at the front line of defending cities and they want more control over how their communities rebuild.

He criticized Zelensky’s government, as did others, with one major caveat: No matter the internal divides, he said, the bigger foe is Russia, and the West must continue to support Ukraine’s defence of its sovereignty.