A corruption scandal exposes entrenched power, challenging governance models, while youth resistance and public scrutiny may force the president to confront the “dragon” within the system.
The political crisis is gaining momentum amid prolonged power outages and the difficult situation on the front lines. Ali Baba has taken on the traits of Schwarz’s dragon and embodies the full set of qualities of a main villain. It was reported by Lana Zerkal.
“The killing of the dragon” is perceived as the most obvious and straightforward way to solve problems. Both deputies and diplomats rally around this idea. In this light, the move appears to be a fairly logical way to jettison ballast that is dragging things down.
But… but Schwarz in the play has some very pertinent thoughts. The first: “You cannot simply kill the dragon. You can only replace it with another.” And in the case of the head of the Presidential Office, this is especially relevant.
Because the building on Bankova Street is definitely cursed. No matter what you call them, they come out looking like either the NKVD, a Reichskommissariat, or the CPSU. Since they were occupied — whether by the administration or the presidential office — the authorities have been spoiling everyone working there. Everyone who has any connection to the high offices on the second floor of this building has had, and still has, a sense of their own exceptionality and divine selection. So much so that they try to impose on us exclusively their own idea of an acceptable model for exercising power.
The mechanism was described long ago by George Orwell: “To wield power, and to maintain it for a long time, one must be able to distort the sense of reality.”
The corruption scandal, which lifted the curtain on the backstage of Ukrainian politics, gives the country a chance to change not only the key players but also the way power is exercised. And the method had been chosen: either you do what you are told, or your future lies sweeping streets.
Before the tapes appeared, there was in the country a sense of slow, “frog-in-boiling-water” descent into autocracy. The marathoners in power were already ready to fully tighten control over the media, the judicial system, and law enforcement, and had begun the final stage: a forceful crackdown on those disturbing public order.
But fully tightening the screws and establishing complete control was thwarted by the unexpected reaction of the youth, who categorically reject conformism and are the real bearers of the virus of freedom and European values. It is thanks to them that the plans to freeze the governance model were disrupted—plans so passionately defended in the Verkhovna Rada by well-known old-guard politicians and investigation subjects.
The response of pro-government Telegram channels to the scandal today mostly boils down to conspiracy theories. Either it’s the “Washington regional committee,” or “Kremlin agents,” or they’re working together… with Kolomoisky’s hand.
If we do not break out of the state‑governance paradigm of “everything is mine, the rules are mine, and exceptions are for my own,” then everyone will win except us. And thus the dragon will win. Because Schwarz’s second important idea is precisely about the need to kill the dragon within each of us.
And it is not worth hiding behind the war while trying to tighten the screws on free thought and distort reality through loyal Telegram channels. The millions of dollars in cash that we saw were not going toward defending the country. On the contrary — they were weakening it. Just as other schemes that have not yet been exposed continue to weaken it.
And we should not expect that a simple change of names — ministers, officials, or office figures replaced with mythical “worthy people” — can change the system. While this magical thinking continues to infect media workers, experts, and international partners, the “cogs” of the system at the lower levels are waiting to see where to carry the interrupted flow of money.
This week will show which path the president chooses: whether he is ready to rid himself of his dragon. Much depends on that.
