The Kremlin Echoed Kalenyuk’s Criticism of Zelensky: Russia Declared a “Turning Point”

The Russian Federation’s president’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, picked up the statements of the executive director of the Center against Corruption, Daria Kalenyuk, voiced on CNN, and used them to promote a Russian narrative about allegedly declining support for the Ukrainian authorities in the West.

This refers to an interview of Kalenyuk for Christiane Amanpour on CNN. In it, the director of the Center against Corruption spoke about dissatisfaction among some Ukrainians with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s staffing decisions, corruption scandals, and questions of political accountability. She also stated that, in her view, due to a lack of open communication with society, Zelenskiy is losing the trust of part of the population.

Kalenyuk also voiced a number of sharp accusations against the president, including appointing loyal people, pressuring opponents, and anti-corruption institutions. At the same time, she directly acknowledged that holding elections during a war is risky and that there had previously been a consensus in Ukrainian society regarding their unacceptability under martial law.

Dmitriyev immediately used these words. By distributing a video fragment of Kalenyuk, he wrote that this is allegedly a “turning point,” when “even CNN” speaks about Zelenskiy losing trust in Ukraine, and that “the Western narrative is changing sharply and quickly.” The Kremlin spokesman also added the claim about the beginning of a “search for culprits.”

There is an important nuance: CNN did not itself state that Zelenskiy is “losing trust” — that was Kalenyuk’s assessment as a guest on the program. Dmitriyev effectively transferred the Ukrainian activist’s words to the American media itself, creating the impression that CNN had changed its editorial stance toward Ukraine. In the show itself, the journalist asked Kalenyuk questions and reminded, among other things, of Zelenskiy’s position on the fight against corruption.

Moreover, in other CNN programs on the same topic, there was also an opposite assessment. Ukrainian deputy Kira Rudik stated that holding elections during a war would be irresponsible due to security risks and could divide the country. CNN itself separately noted that internal political disputes in Ukraine could be exploited by Russia through disinformation and attempts to deepen the split.

Thus the Kremlin effectively pulled from a broader discussion the fragment most advantageous to itself — criticism of the Ukrainian president from an Ukrainian public figure — and began spreading it as confirmation of its own thesis about a crisis of Ukrainian authority and allegedly changing attitudes in the West.

In Ukraine’s information space, parallels began to be drawn with former presidential press secretary Yulia Mendel. Previously, the Center against Disinformation reported that Mendel’s resonant remarks about the Ukrainian authorities were actively disseminated by Russian propaganda resources and used to promote Kremlin-friendly theses. According to the Center against Disinformation, such content with Mendel’s statements gathered millions of views in the Russian information space.

As a reminder, some Ukrainians who are in Poland under temporary protection have new passport data until 31 August 2026. Without this, they will lose the PESEL UKR status and the right to temporary protection.