President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is facing criticism after he said that he had already received a “grim warning” from US intelligence about the threat of war from Russia, but did not share these informations with the public.
Zelenskyy did not make the warning public “out of fear that Ukrainians would leave the nation en masse,” he said on Tuesday. According to several media reports, Zelenskyy has since then facing an outpouring of criticism which has escalated throughout the week.
According to several media reports, Ukrainian citizens are reported to have expressed their discontent on social media. Some academics have said that the president “bears some responsibility for the Russian atrocities because of this.”
Zelenskyy said that he feared “panic and massive refugee streams” that could result in an “economic collapse” if he had shared the warnings of US intelligence with the public. “Since October last year, we would have lost $7 billion a month, and the moment the Russians attacked, they would have defeated us in three days,” Zelenskyy said.
Russian forces could not take the capital Kyiv, which proves that he made the “right decision,” according to Zelenskyy. “Most Ukrainians stayed here and fought for their homeland.
However, many Ukrainian citizens believe that Zelenskyy has “put the economy above the well-being of Ukrainians” and think the many killings could have been prevented if Ukraine’s population had been more adequately prepared for the war.