What's Wrong With Zelensky's "Loss of Authority" Thesis? Fact Check of Loud Statements

On February 24, 2025, a video was published on the YouTube channel CTVBY: “The Rada voted against extending Zelensky’s powers! #zelensky #war #ukraine #politics”. The video gathered more than 2 million views!
The content of this story:

The plan failed. In the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, a vote was held in the presence of European commissioners, which was supposed to confirm that the parliament supports Zelensky. However, something went wrong. The statement, which stated that the current leader should exercise powers until the newly elected president takes office, received only 218 votes out of the necessary 226. Thus, the parliament clearly demonstrated to the West that Zelensky is losing authority. Today, many deputies are united in their opinion. To achieve peace in Ukraine, Zelensky must be dismissed and a group created for negotiations on conflict resolution.

Our verdict based on the analyses conducted:

Verdict: Incorrect

Reasons:

• The thesis or statement is completely false: information from multiple sources or opinions of several experts in a specific field contradict it.
• The claimed causal relationships and connections clearly do not exist.
• When quoting, significant parts are omitted, rearranged, altered, or incorrectly translated from a foreign language, fundamentally changing the meaning of what was said.
• The event occurred in substantially different ways than claimed.

Fact-checking rating scale

Full video:

Analysis of claims:

1. Results of the vote on February 24 and 25, 2025:

• On February 24, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine indeed failed to adopt the resolution “On Supporting Democracy in Ukraine under Conditions of Russian Aggression,” receiving 218 votes out of the necessary 226.
• However, on February 25, 2025, the parliament reconsidered this issue and adopted the resolution, receiving 268 votes “in favor.” The statement emphasizes that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s mandate is not questioned by the Ukrainian people and the Verkhovna Rada, and he should perform his duties until the newly elected president takes office according to the Constitution of Ukraine (pravda.com.ua).

2. Interpretation of voting results as Zelensky “losing authority”:

• Despite the initial failure of the vote, the results of February 25 refute the thesis about declining support for Zelensky. The parliament confirmed his legitimacy, which does not indicate a “loss of authority.”
• The interpretation of events as evidence of weakening the president’s position is manipulative, as it does not take into account the final decision of the Verkhovna Rada.

3. Call for Zelensky’s resignation to achieve peace and create a negotiating group:

• Available Ukrainian sources do not confirm the existence of a unified opinion among deputies regarding the need for Zelensky’s resignation to achieve peace.
• There is also no data on the creation of a parliamentary group for negotiations, and this claim is not supported by official statements from Ukrainian authorities.
• Such statements may be part of disinformation narratives aimed at undermining trust in the current president.

4. Presence of European commissioners at the meeting on February 24, 2025:

• Available Ukrainian sources do not confirm the presence of European commissioners at the Verkhovna Rada meeting on February 24, 2025.
• Claims about their presence are based on information from Russian sources, such as RT, which may be part of disinformation.

• Claims that on February 24, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine failed to adopt a resolution on supporting democracy correspond to the facts.
• However, on February 25, the parliament successfully adopted this resolution, expressing support for democracy and the legitimacy of President Zelensky.
• Interpretations about the president “losing authority” based on the initial non-adoption of the resolution are subjective and do not take into account the parliament’s final positive decision.
• Claims about the need for Zelensky’s resignation and the creation of a negotiating group are not confirmed by Ukrainian sources.
• Additionally, claims about the presence of European commissioners at the meeting on February 24 are not confirmed by Ukrainian sources and may be part of disinformation.

UPD Dynamics of trust in President V. Zelensky in 2019-2025

During February 14-March 4, 2025, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its own all-Ukrainian survey of public opinion “Omnibus,” to which it added a question about trust in President V. Zelensky on its own initiative. Using the method of telephone interviews (computer-assisted telephone interviews, CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting) in all regions of Ukraine (territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine), 1029 respondents were surveyed.
Now let’s perform an analysis of disinformation narratives and semantic analysis: