There Comes a Moment in the Life of Every Nation”: What’s Really Wrong with Zelenskyy’s Address

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“THERE COMES A MOMENT IN THE LIFE OF EVERY NATION…” — that’s how Zelenskyy opens his address, which positive bloggers have already hailed as historic… and promptly closed the comments.

“I am, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, elected by the will of the people…” – the president recalls the lines of his oath.

And it was said deliberately. This is a carefully chosen trigger — designed to plunge voters back into 2019, into the emotions they felt when celebrating his victory. Back then, the president’s kiss of a bald man from the neighborhood at the inauguration seemed like the charming nonsense of a “guy from the people.” The phrase “each of us is a president” promised a new political era, and running around the fountains in Mariupol had not yet carried the ominous premonition of complete incompetence.

Overall, the entire speech is built on flashbacks — an attempt to revive the collective emotion of triumph.

“We were thrilled when the whole world said, ‘My God, how incredible Ukrainians are, what titans they are.’” According to the speechwriters’ plan, this is meant to bring us back to the joy of the Armed Forces’ victories near Kyiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv.

But I would say: “Simply put, in the life of every nation, there comes a moment when its government deliberately fails to prepare for an enemy attack.” That is why we had to become titans.

“The enemy did not see our backs… that is dignity,” says the president.
I would argue that we clearly did see the backs of his friends fleeing the country during curfew in a VIP taxi, carrying the characteristic rectangular objects earned from the energy industry. And this is not some rumor; it comes from official data in the NABU investigation. Honestly, I have no idea what dignity Zelenskyy is talking about here.

“Everyone should stop the nonsense; the government should work effectively…” the guarantor continues.
Yet for now, we witness how “effectively” Mankurt Dmitriev operates — giving Trump yet another fool in the form of a “peace plan” and compelling the red-haired peacemaker to impose it on us.

Meanwhile, our government — which seems to have no one appointed based on professional qualifications — fails at everything it touches. And it’s no wonder: efficiency is hard to expect from people whose main function appears to be not overshadowing the president.

The only ones truly performing are the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And they are operating at the limits of human capacity.
“There comes a moment in the life of every nation” when its government has botched mobilization measures — and, through its own actions, only strengthens Russian propaganda aimed at undermining our mobilization.

Then the guarantor recalled his crowning “because he didn’t run away” — a reminder, so the public wouldn’t forget this supposedly “outstanding” virtue: “Either you sign, or you will be liquidated… and I didn’t betray Ukraine then.”

“I promised to abide by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy says.
And I want to ask: what remains of that Constitution?

• Parliament has been reduced to mere scenery.

• The government functions as a technical appendage to the President’s Office.

• International politics is privatized by a single decision-making center.

Thus, “there comes a moment in the life of every nation…” when its power is overtaken by all sorts of Vitkof-Dmitrievs and other scum.

Where is our international team?
Does anyone even remember the name of the current Minister of Foreign Affairs?

The modern “peace plan” being imposed on us became possible only because we once allowed the line between politics and show to blur — between strategy and emotion — and replaced professionals with comedians.

And now they are showing us that the “meet in the middle” approach, which everyone unanimously celebrated in 2019, has become the very same 28 points of the plan.

One could spend a long time analyzing the president’s speech, his rhetoric, and manipulative techniques.

But the fact remains: the emotions of 2019 no longer work in 2025. History demands not nostalgia or flashbacks, but growth.

I don’t see the president growing up yet, and I don’t even dare hope for it. What I do hope is that society will grow up.

And it must understand that “there comes a moment in the life of every nation…” when it has to pay for its mistakes at the ballot box.

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