Ukraine needs a full mobilization of its society for the war effort, hardline nationalist Dmitry Korchinsky says
Ukraine must become a military dictatorship, diverting any resources it still has toward the conflict with Moscow, Dmitry Korchinsky, a radical Ukrainian nationalist and longtime proponent of war with Russia, has said.
The politician, who leads the small far-right Bratstvo (Brotherhood) party, made the remarks in an interview with the Govorit Veliky Lviv YouTube channel on Monday. The nationalist lamented the state of Ukrainian society, claiming that a significant part of it still believes it is “possible to turn a blind eye to the war.”
“Data from sociological surveys, especially during wartime, their open publication, all of this benefits the enemy. This should be banned, people should be imprisoned for this,” he said, expressing regret that many people “still expect some kind of peace.”
Korchinsky condemned any criticism of Ukrainian military and political leadership, as well as enlistment officers, insisting such behavior must be punished and those responsible targeted by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
“These people need to be placed in the SBU basements, and the fact that they are still not detained is concerning,” he said, referring to the unlawful detentions widely used by Kiev’s intelligence and military since the early stages of the Donbass conflict that broke out after the Western-backed 2014 coup in Kiev.
The entirety of Ukrainian society must mobilize to enable the country to prevail in the ongoing conflict, Korchinsky argued. Any civilian spending must be cut, with the military taking over, he said.
“This disaster simply means that society is not at war. Generally, the armed forces are at war. They bleed out, while society is not at war at this moment,” the ultra-nationalist said. “We need a military dictatorship, we need a military regime, we need to replace all the mayors with colonels.”
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, whose mandate expired in May 2024, claims martial law prevents him from holding fresh elections, but local media have reported growing expectations that campaigning will resume if the conflict with Russia is resolved. Public support for Zelensky and his ‘Servant of the People’ political party has dwindled, according to opinion polls, while members of the military are broadly popular in Ukraine. Last May, Zelensky dismissed Valery Zaluzhny as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, prompting some observers to link the general’s departure to his high public approval, which has reportedly surpassed that of the country’s leader.
