this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared his personal income for the first time since the outbreak of war with Russia, as part of his effort to increase transparency in his government.

In 2021, the year before Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelenskiy and his family reported income of 10.8 million hryvnia ($285,000), down 12 million hryvnia from the previous year, even as his income was boosted by the sale of $142,000 of government bonds, according to a statement on his website.

In 2022, the first year of the Russian invasion, the Zelenskiy family’s income fell further to 3.7 million hryvnia as he earned less income from renting real estate he owned because of the hostilities.

Even as the war allowed Ukrainian officials to withhold revealing sensitive personal information, Zelenskiy pushed to make them publicly declare assets. Increasing transparency and tackling graft are necessary for his country to ensure continued financial aid from its western allies, even as more than $100 billion of funds are held up due to political maneuvering inside US and EU.

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[–] Scubus@sh.itjust.works 198 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Bruh everything about zelenksy is fucking incredible. What a guy

[–] june@lemmy.world 50 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I think we’re gonna learn some things about him after this war is over that we won’t like. He’s doing great as a war time president, but no one is this squeaky clean.

[–] eek2121@lemmy.world 58 points 9 months ago (1 children)

…and that is okay. He is still doing an incredible job and is an incredible public figure.

Nobody is perfect, nor do they have to be.

[–] june@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

Absolutely. I couldn’t agree more.

I just see a lot of people putting him on a pedestal that are probably gonna be let down some day.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 35 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

True.

For example Churchill: great wartime PM, but also very much an anti-worker free market believing imperialist who actively fought against both independence for and immigration from the British colonies. People tend to only remember the first part, though.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

My dad, who was a socialist until the day he died, told me proudly about how he booed Churchill when Churchill came to visit his high school after the war, but when he was still PM. He was Jewish, so he appreciated Churchill's war leadership that kept the Nazis from invading, but otherwise thought he was a shit leader.

[–] Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

And wasn’t he kinda known for being a drunk? (Still one of the most quotable people in recent history)

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nobody really cares about that part though.

[–] Zron@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Bring the leader of a country during WW2 happens to be a great excuse for alcoholism

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago
[–] Aussieiuszko@aussie.zone 21 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah we are? Most normal people don't have huge skeletons in their closet.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 9 points 9 months ago (2 children)

But almost everyone has at least one skeleton.

[–] Blackhole@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I don't have any...? Most people don't I would think.

[–] i_love_FFT@lemmy.ml 7 points 9 months ago

I agree regarding closet, but I believe most people have a skeleton inside their meatbag.

[–] poppy@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

Yeah I’m far too boring to have dark secrets. But I feel like people in the public eye are probably more prone to them.

[–] root_beer@midwest.social 1 points 9 months ago

Some have two or more, but in nearly all cases, they’re women. Makes u think

[–] banneryear1868@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Here's his approval rating over time that reflects this point perfectly. He's supported in his actions during the war way more than he was as a politician, he was actually doing pretty badly before the war in his approvals. Interested to see how the prolonged conflict affects this, and what the regional differences are.

[–] Woht24@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But you could say the same thing about you, just you're not in a spotlight. What's the point of even saying 'everyone has something'.

[–] june@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes, I am included in ‘everyone’.

The reason I say it is because Zelensky has been put on a pretty high pedestal, for example:

bruh everything about zelensky is incredible. What a guy

And some folks are going to be sorely disappointed later on when they learn more about him and where his failings lie.

[–] Woht24@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah alright, again, same could be said about anyone.

[–] june@lemmy.world 0 points 9 months ago

Which would be meaningless for nearly anyone that’s not in a position of power and influence, yes.

I’m really not sure what your point is here.

[–] Reverendender@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Zelenskiy for World President

[–] comrade19@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago

I hope they make statues of him like they did with all those bygone fellas that did something great

[–] Lev_Astov@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

I've been disturbed to see an increasing number of purple parroting character assassination points about Zelenskiy.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The hypocrisy in his support for Israel is infuriating, but otherwise yeah.

[–] Drinvictus@discuss.tchncs.de 44 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I mean he's a politician and in order to protect his people he has to suck up to the US.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Isn't he just generally a Zionist? Like even before this war.

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

You don't want Israel to exist? And, yes, Zelenskiy was born Jewish. I'm sure he supports the existence of a Jewish state, aka a Zionist.

[–] Deceptichum@kbin.social 25 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Who'd want an ethnostate to exist? I mean other than *-supremacists.

[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

There's a difference between having a state in which an ethnicity can feel at home and safe, and ethnically purifying that state.

Labour Zionism is the former, Religious Zionism the latter.

What would you think about the whole Israel project if it would look, policy-wise, just like what the YPG built in Rojava? If Kurds can do it and we applaud when they do it, why not Jews?

[–] Argonne@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

Because they hate Jews. Just using Zionism as a cover for it

[–] Argonne@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Most middle east Arab states are religious ethnostates too. By your logic they should not exist either. Israel is home to Jews that were kicked out of all Arab states

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Setting aside that Israel is fundamentally an Apartheid state (that's kinda the sales pitch when you say "Jewish state") and therefore shouldn't exist, that's not what I'm talking about. He's been pretty loud about his support for Israel's war when he could've just stayed silent.

[–] Argonne@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Why don't you look at Israels demographic before calling it an apartheid? By that definition most middle east countries are apartheid

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social -1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I'm... Not sure what you're even trying to say. Israel's sales pitch is a state where Jews are superior to none-Jews. That assumption is in every fabric of Israeli society. By your definition South Africa wouldn't have been Apartheid because they had black people.

[–] Argonne@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Regular people don't care if you are Jewish or not.

Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a multiparty system and independent institutions that guarantee political rights and civil liberties for most of the population. Although the judiciary is comparatively active in protecting minority rights, the political leadership and many in society have discriminated against Arab and other ethnic or religious minority populations, resulting in systemic disparities in areas including infrastructure, criminal justice, education, and economic opportunity.

https://freedomhouse.org/country/israel

This is no different than Black people in the US. No one calls USA an apartheid state?

Also you conveniently ignored my point about the rest of the middle east

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's more like pre-CRA America, and I'd definitely entertain the argument of calling that an Apartheid state against black people or native Americans.

Also Palestinians in Israel (not the West Bank, not East Jerusalem, Israel proper) are still having their lands stolen by Israeli authorities, and are forbidden from living in certain places, along with a whole host of other injustices.

And, more importantly, people calling Israel an Apartheid state are usually referring to its occupied territories, while everything you just said doesn't apply as soon as you step into East Jerusalem, let alone the West Bank.

[–] Argonne@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Fine, but with that definition most middle eastern countries and many in Africa would be considered apartheid states as well. Even Russia is bordering on Apartheid with the way it treats Chenchens, Rurals and deep eastern settlements. China is apartheid on Uygurs. Turkiye on Kurds and Armenia. My point is that there seems to be a huge double standard criticizing Israel for Apartheid while not criticizing many other countries for it. I'm fine with blaming Israel for it as long as other countries get blamed for it. I don't see anyone in the Middle East raging at China for the way they crack down on Muslims in a much worse way than Israel has done

We expect more from Israel because it's a western country but at the end of the day they are just another country in the middle east. They have their own version of religious fanaticism same as other Arabs with their own. I'm tired of all the news from Israel while literally half the world's population is struggling to survive. It feels like a giant class and race war to distract us

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social 0 points 9 months ago

Fine, but with that definition most middle eastern countries and many in Africa would be considered apartheid states as well.

How so?

We expect more from Israel because it’s a western country but at the end of the day they are just another country in the middle east. They have their own version of religious fanaticism same as other Arabs with their own.

Most Arab countries committing genocide rightfully get fucked pretty hard for it (unless they're doing it on behalf of the West like in Yemen).