Journalists from various Ukrainian media outlets have recorded a video asking questions they would like to receive answers to from Volodymyr Zelensky. These questions primarily relate to corruption scandals uncovered by anti-corruption authorities, as well as the personal responsibility of the president himself.
Investigative journalist Danilo Mokrik, one of the participants in the video, believes that the president needs to expose himself to the public more again.
"Volodymyr Zelensky has long abandoned the conversation with society. He communicates in the form of a monologue," criticizes Mokrik. "And we need dialogue."
Thousands of people petition for a press conference
Danilo Mokrik also cites a specific example: the rather forced resignation of the then popular Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov in July. Zelensky did not sufficiently explain this to society, nor did he react to spontaneous protests in support of Fedorov.
"He showed no interest in talking to any of the protesters. He did not give an interview to any Ukrainian media outlet," the journalist says. "But he did find time to give an interview to American blogger Laura Loomer, as well as to Sky News during the protests themselves."
Therefore, a petition was launched on the president's website demanding that Zelensky hold a large press conference, which would also be open to all critical media.
The petition states that the last conference of this type was held more than a year and a half ago. The petition has been signed by almost 22.000 people so far. When the number of signatures reaches 25.000, the president is obliged to at least consider it.
Justified criticism?
Some observers believe that the criticism of Zelensky is exaggerated and say that the president communicates in his own way - through three channels. He releases a video message almost every evening and meets with selected media outlets in closed-door briefings.
In addition, the presidential administration has a channel on the Vocap app, explains Oksana Romanyuk from the Institute for Mass Media, which monitors the media scene in Ukraine.
"There are a lot of journalists in that chat, currently 534. Questions can be asked there. Just recently, a small press conference was held there again," she explains.
However, investigative journalist Danilo Mokrik criticizes this approach and emphasizes that it is not an open dialogue. In this chat, the president and his associates can choose for themselves which questions to answer and which to ignore.
In addition, some critical media outlets are completely excluded from this type of communication. For example, “Ukrainian Justice”, an influential and traditional online newspaper, has not received invitations to briefings for a long time, unlike independent foreign media outlets, including the German public service ARD.
"He is harming himself"
"When he distances himself from Ukrainian justice in this way, the president should know that he is not harming us," says Mykhailo Tkach, a journalist for this portal. He is harming the citizens of Ukraine who are not getting answers to important questions.
"And he's also hurting himself, because that's why he can't understand some of the problems we could point out to him at press conferences."
As an example, Tkač cites a press conference from three years ago, when he asked the president what he intended to do against companies involved in internet fraud. Today, the country is rocked by a scandal involving these very companies, as anti-corruption authorities have determined that state institutions are allegedly protecting these fraudsters.
Investigative journalist Mokrik hopes that Zelensky will take the petition on his website seriously and organize another major press conference.
"Society is traumatized, it is emotional, it needs contact and dialogue. It requires a reaction from the state authorities to what hurts people."
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