Silicon Bites #91 - Why are Moscow and Washington Pushing Ukraine to Hold Risky, Divisive Elections

Edition No91 | 05-02-2025 - About 8 months ago I spotted an uptick in allusions to a certain narrative – the illegitimacy of Ukraine’s president. His elected term formally ended in May 2024, but under the country's martial law no election can be held. Let’s make this clear, it would be unconstitutional and unlawful for Zelenskyy to call an election. We’ll examine the impracticality of this later. ---------- We ran two events in Ukraine in the last two weeks. Lviv (part 2) and Kyiv. The event we ran in August 2023 was a huge success, and had a great impact. Now our aim is even more ambitious. Two cities. Two events. Multiple panels consisting of the best experts, and all filmed in high definition for the channel. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras But it costs. Last time the overall cost was £3,500 for Live in Lviv, and we covered 80% of this through ticket sales. This time the costs are higher, and there's less opportunity to sell tickets at the available venues and studios, so I'm creating a campaign to raise £5,000 to make this trip a reality. We also have a much more ambitious programme to film interviews around Kyiv and Lviv for the channel. This project will have an impact, so please help if you can. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- More than five years have now passed since May 20, 2019, when Zelensky was sworn in to the Verkhovna Rada, and boldly stated: "Each of us is president." He was elected with 73.2% of ballots cast by voters who dreamt of change. Among his many promises of transformation was a key one to negotiate an end to the war in the Donbas. He also committed to end corruption, improve pensions, raise wages, and many other enticing promises. Instead, what he and Ukraine got was war – full-scale, brutal and destructive, imperial, genocidal, relentless. The former comedian turned war leader has changed beyond recognition. Physically of course the impact of war has been obvious. But he has also matured into a great speaker, persuader and one of the most iconic war leaders of history. His words have matured, his face has hardened, his beard has grown. Zelensky now only appears in combat fatigues, an outfit that has remained unchanged since the invasion of February 24, 2022. ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- NEWS SOURCES: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-ukraine-peace-elections/33303303.html https://kyivindependent.com/us-urges-ukraine-to-hold-elections-after-ceasefire-trumps-envoy-tells-reuters/ https://unherd.com/newsroom/america-should-not-pressure-ukraine-into-elections/ https://news.sky.com/story/us-wants-ukraine-to-hold-elections-following-potential-ceasefire-trump-envoy-says-13301316 https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-freak-out-us-russia-push-election/ https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/05/23/volodymyr-zelensky-a-president-with-no-term-end_6672475_4.html ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ----------