Zelensky will be using his power and wealth to convince his cabal of supporters that he is the only deal in town.

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The mobster style assassination of Andriy Parubiy shouldn’t really have shocked us. The hardcore Bandera supporter who was part of the so-called ‘revolution’ which emerged in 2014 in Ukraine became a target of Zelensky’s new cabal surrounding him, according to recent reports. The ‘new Banderistas’ who possibly saw the former house speaker as a threat to the President and so a crude, but effective message was sent to anyone who thinks they might have a shot at becoming Ukraine’s new president, either by the ballot box or via a coup d’etat: know what you’re taking on.

True, gangster-like hits like Parubiy – who was shot at point blank range from someone who arrived on an electric bicycle – are nothing new. Just this year in May, Andriy Portnov, a former aide to former President Viktor Yanukovych was shot dead in Madrid by multiple hit men in front of his children.

What both these men have in common is not only their first names though.

Both Parubiy and Portnov probably had ambitions about being president or at the very least have had discussion with key figures in Trump’s circle. Trump has hardly made any secret about being disappointed in Zelensky and with the recent events post the Alaska meeting, where any chance of placing him and Putin at a table being dashed completely, it must be clear to Zelensky and his cabal that Trump is looking more than ever for someone to replace him. His final dramatic act of making impossible demands with regards to a peace settlement drove home the point that while the Europeans have invested everything in his incumbency, there is only one way now for Putin to go: forward.

This most recent assassination is part of many to come, I would venture. Zelensky knows that his popularity must be quite low given that a recent poll identified almost 70 percent of Ukrainians who wanted the war to end – something which he is programmed not to do, given that the moment that would happen martial law would end and he would be forced to roll out presidential elections.

But he also knows that he can be unseated even with the ballot. With the Russian advancement clear for everyone to see – with a key supply town for the Ukrainian army in the east of country called Pokrovsk close to falling now to Russian forces – Zelensky must be aware more than ever that he will be facing pressure from all corners of society to stand down and take whatever deal is on offer to halt the advancement, avoiding the entire country being captured. And Zelensky’s people must realise that these pressures will involve either the possibility of a coup d’état from the military or even from an existing leading figure who is supported by the Trump administration. After all, the Americans spent billions of dollars in 2014 effectively over throwing a Russian-speaking president for their own western puppet, so it’s not as though they can’t do it again.

Parubiy might have been one such contender who may well have been in contact with the Americans and thought his conversations and meetings could not be detected by Zelensky’s spies. It was the second attempt on his life and this time the hit man made no mistake.

He was widely accredited as one of the founders of modern Ukraine but also was briefly the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, creating the new Ukrainian Guard, Army, and Defence Forces in 2014. He later served as a member of Ukraine’s parliament from 2016-19.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, his murder has been blamed on Russia although his party colleagues who make this accusation provide not a shred of evidence in their social media postings.

A more realistic assessment would be that Zelensky commissioned the hit as much tougher and desperate times are coming his way and the war for him soon will no longer be with Russia but with his own people who elected him on a peace ticket and realize that his entire purpose as President is to enrich himself via the war. Spoils of war. Zelensky will be using his power and wealth to convince his cabal of supporters that he is the only deal in town and it is much more profitable and logical to simply eliminate those who might pose a challenge. We should expect many more such assassinations and mysterious deaths of those who could present themselves as plausible candidates.