In war-fatigued east Ukraine, Zelensky loses his shine

Olena Semykina, the owner of a village shop in east Ukraine, voted for President Volodymyr Zelensky five and a half years ago, hoping the fresh-faced political newcomer would end the fighting unleashed by Russian proxy forces in 2014.

The screech of an artillery shell over her leafy village in the war-battered Donetsk region and the plumes of dark smoke billowing on the horizon suggested that her hopes for his first term had fallen short.

"We expected the war to end, like he promised. But the war hasn't ended. There's even more fighting. It seems to me that it's become even more intense," the 43-year-old told AFP in the village of Kleban-Byk, where invading Russian forces are fast approaching.

Across the industrial Donetsk region some war-fatigued residents, like Olena who voted for Zelensky in 2019, have lost faith in the 46-year-old leader as Russia's invasion grinds through its third year.

The former comedian won respect internationally and drew comparisons with Winston Churchill when he stayed in Kyiv in February 2022 to lead his country in a David-versus-Goliath battle against Russian forces.

But in interviews with AFP, Donetsk residents blamed him for failing to prevent the full-scale invasion in the first place, for daily speeches that felt empty or for being out of touch with Ukrainians living near the front lines.

- 'I don't listen to him anymore' -

Donetsk has been partially controlled by Russian proxy forces since they wrested control over swathes of the industrial territory in 2014.

Zelensky swept to victory five years later, promising to end the bitter fighting and stamp out systemic corruption among Soviet-style political elites.

Polling in September 2019 -- just months after his inauguration -- showed the former TV star was riding high with around 80 percent approval ratings.

Those figures plummeted before Russia invaded in 2022, but skyrocketed to around 90 percent as Russian missiles began raining down on Ukrainians.

Now his ratings are falling precipitously again, standing at 55 percent, according to polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

"To be honest, I don't listen to him at all anymore. It's pointless. I don't believe in anything he says. He talks a lot but does little," said Vadim, a miner in Selydove, another Donetsk-region town in Russia's sights.

"You have to be here to understand what's going on here and how people live," added the 42-year-old, who earlier sent his family to Kyiv for safety from Russian bombardments.

Zelensky's first five-year term officially ended earlier this year. Under martial law, Kyiv cannot host elections, which would anyway face myriad obstacles with millions of Ukrainians abroad, living under Russian occupation or near active hostilities.

- Zelensky 'deserves respect' -

KIIS polling suggested that least 70 percent of Ukrainians oppose holding any ballot with the war raging -- but there is still a clear appetite for change, said the institute's Executive Director Anton Grushetsky.

"It is obvious that the request from ordinary Ukrainians is for more and more competent, decent people to hold the most important government positions," he wrote in an analytical note alongside the poll findings.

Some in Donetsk were more sympathetic to Zelensky and his bid to unite Ukrainians and Kyiv's allies abroad to end the largest war in Europe since World War II.

Zelensky has persuaded sceptical Western leaders to send advanced battle tanks and F-16 fighter jets for his military, put Ukraine on the path to European Union membership and rallied dozens of countries behind his vision for ending the war.

At a military field hospital near Pokrovsk, an army doctor who identified himself as Lyubystok praised Zelensky for having remained at the helm as Russian forces were gunning for the capital in February 2022.

"This is very strong, very right and deserves respect," the 26-year-old told AFP before rushing to aid bloodied servicemen brought from the nearby front.

In Novogrodivka, a mining town that is falling under Russian control, businesswoman Iryna Cherednychenko, said Zelensky was a "good man" and admired him for making several visits to her frontline region.

- 'Save the country' -

The 62-year-old also voted for Zelensky but said she was disappointed that corruption remained a problem and that the cabinet and parliament should step up to strengthen the rule of law.

"We expected him to have a very professional team but our expectations were not met," Cherednychenko said, the sounds of distant shelling echoing out.

"Corruption, the irresponsibility of the authorities and weak laws are finishing us off. People lost faith," she told AFP, adding that officials in Kyiv were out of touch with soldiers and civilians impacted by fighting.

Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told AFP that Ukrainian presidents generally lose support in their first year and Ukrainians as a whole tend to distrust state and political institutions.

He said that while Zelensky's rating would likely never rebound, there was more the president could do on some domestic issues, particularly corruption.

"Zelensky now needs to think not about ratings, but about how to save the country and get it out of the war with the least losses," Fesenko added.

"In any case, he will remain in Ukrainian history as one of the most striking and unusual political figures."