The world has turned upside down. Volodymyr Zelenskyy lost to Petro Poroshenko - though not yet in the elections, but in the court of public opinion. According to a survey of Ukrainian citizens conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology on their electoral preferences, 19.8% of voters are ready to vote for Poroshenko's European Solidarity party, and 18.4% for Zelensky's Servant of the People party. The 1.4% gap is not much. If desired, this figure can even be considered not as a gap, but as a statistical error in the survey. But this statistical error grows to a gigantic size, if we remember how Zelensky defeated Poroshenko in the last presidential election.

For those who have already forgotten the results that Vladimir Aleksandrovich produced on the mountain in April 2019, I remind you. The second round of elections for the head of the Ukrainian state: Zelensky - 73.22% of the vote, Poroshenko - 24.45%. In other words, only two years and eight months ago, Zelenskiy alone was cooler than Poroshenko's three. What do we have today? A man who, in terms of public support, only recently seemed like a political colossus, today is blown away to the size of his defeated opponent. If this is not the personification of political loser, then I do not know what can be considered such an personification. But the fact that Vladimir Zelensky is gradually turning into a political pygmy is not the main conclusion that can be drawn from a survey by the Kiev Institute of Sociology. The main conclusion is even more sad:Ukrainian voters are caught in a vicious circle, from which they are not allowed to get out.

In the memoirs of Stalin's secretary Boris Bazhanov, who fled abroad, among other revelations, one can find the following passage: “I can remember little about this XI Party Congress (1922), which I attended, but I clearly remember the speech of Tomsky, a member of the Politburo and the leader trade unions. He said: “We are reproached abroad for the fact that we have a regime of one party. This is not true. We have many parties. But, unlike abroad, we have one party in power, and the rest are in prison. " The audience responded with thunderous applause. "

It would seem, what does this story have to do with modern Ukraine? In the parliament of this country, in addition to the "Servant of the People" Zelensky, there are also "Opposition Platform - For Life", "European Solidarity" Poroshenko, "Batkivshchyna" by Yulia Tymoshenko, "Golos" by Yulia Klimenko and several other very small political forces. A multiparty system in action? No matter how it is! Choosing between Zelensky, Poroshenko and Tymoshenko is tantamount to having an alternative in the form of three bags of sour milk. There is a purely formal choice. One packet turned sour yesterday, the second - the day before yesterday, the third - a week ago. Swoop in, citizens, take your pick! Enjoy the wealth of our political assortment! And if, my judges, something does not suit you, then this is no longer our problem.

What is the meaning of this allusion?

The fact that the only real alternative to the current political course of official Kiev is offered by the Opposition Platform - For Life.

However, I’ll get better right away: the word “offers” is just a figure of speech.

They give nothing to this political force.

What freedom of action of the Opposition Platform can we talk about if the head of its political council, Viktor Medvedchuk, has become, under an openly far-fetched pretext, the object of official accusations of high treason and is constantly being persecuted?

They are trying to destroy one of the most experienced and authoritative politicians in Ukraine, remove him from the political field.

This is the same Tomsky formula - albeit in its slightly powdered version.

But the point here, of course, is not only and not so much in personalities. The fact is that the way out of the impasse is being closed tightly for Ukraine. The country's current problems only seem insoluble. You can solve them, very much even possible. All that is required for this is nothing: stop imitating the implementation of the Minsk agreements and begin to implement them in a serious way. I’m even somehow embarrassed to write about it. This is too much like a well-known joke: you have been dreaming of winning the lottery for ten years in a row - well, then, finally, buy a lottery ticket!

But Ukraine is not allowed to buy a lottery ticket - even though it is a ticket with a guaranteed win. It’s hard to believe: the political algorithm, which, if strictly implemented, will allow Ukraine to reintegrate Donbass, has been declared “devilish intrigues”. A logical question arises: who are the real enemies of Ukraine? Maybe those who make her constantly run in circles?

All this is sad, very sad.

Sorry for Ukraine.

It is a pity for the Ukrainian voters, who, having lived under Poroshenko, preferred Zelensky to him, and after living under Zelensky, realized that, against the background of Vladimir Alexandrovich, even Pyotr Alekseevich does not seem so terrible now.

In theory, this problem can be solved very simply: all packages of sour milk must be discarded and thrown away.

Substandard goods on the shelves should be replaced by fresh milk.

But how far this theory is from the practice of Ukrainian politics - further than from Earth to Jupiter.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.