Zelensky-s endgame, Houthi dominance, German decline: RT stories that shaped the week

Zelensky-s endgame, Houthi dominance, German decline: RT stories that shaped the week

RT’s essential stories of the last seven days also covered NATO’s march to war with Russia and the West jailing its own Kosovo proxy three decades later
Zelensky’s state of corruption devours itselfIn what’s become a recurring moment in Ukraine, another one of Vladimir Zelensky’s top officials fled the country this week amid a metastasizing corruption scandal. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who resigned last week after Ukraine’s Western-backed anti-corruption agencies discovered his cybercrime chief was running a protection racket for scam call centers, bound for Paris, according to Ukrainian media. 
Kravchenko, who was personally appointed by Zelensky, has denied any wrongdoing, and accused the anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAPO, of . He claims he’s got evidence of concentration of undue influence within the agencies, which he plans to show to Zelensky’s Western sponsors. 
Whether or not they’ll listen is another story. Yulia Mendel, a former communications aide to Zelensky, has spoken out about the mire of corruption in Kiev for months, to no avail. Mendel was scheduled to speak at the European Parliament on Wednesday, at an event promoting diplomacy instead of escalation, but upon arrival, days after Zelensky personally sanctioned her.


On the day of my speech, I was barred from entering the European Parliament. I directly attribute this to Zelenskyy’s sanctions. But the speech will go ahead anyway, because I know that I represent a huge segment of society that longs for peace and wants to be heard.
— Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel)


RT has covered the byzantine world of Ukrainian graft in depth in our ‘State of Corruption’ series. Read our here, and check out our exclusive investigation into the latest luxury property here. 
Merz nears his endWith his officials falling one by one to corruption scandals and his political rivals smelling blood in the water, , Russian foreign policy expert Alexander Bobrov wrote for RT on Tuesday. If there’s anyone who knows the feeling, it’s German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. 
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Merz in New York next week, after his Christian Democrats’  humiliating loss to the right-wing AfD in state elections earlier this month, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The chancellor’s approval rating has plummeted to 10%, and by the year’s end. 
Merz has made steep and unpopular welfare cuts to finance Germany’s ambitious rearmament program, as the country’s economy continues to flatline – thanks largely to Berlin’s self-imposed embargo on Russian oil and gas imports. All of this has played into the hands of the AfD, which has promised an end to all war-prolonging support measures for Ukraine, and . 
Merz’s Christian Democrats are on track for another wipeout in state elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin this weekend. By Sunday night, the chancellor’s departure could be a done deal.
Total Houthi dominance Read more Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, better known as the Houthis, scored some major tactical and strategic victories this week. After a lightning advance along the country’s Red Sea coast last week, the group launched missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia’s main oil port of Yanbu, and the Saudi airbase of Khamis Mushait.
The effects of the Houthi campaign were immediately visible at the petrol pumps in Europe. With , the Houthis have asserted their position as arbiters of global fuel prices. US President Donald Trump reportedly on behalf of his Saudi allies, meaning the Houthis have forced Riyadh into a lose-lose choice: admit defeat so oil flows can resume, or keep fighting and bear responsibility for a global energy crisis. 
In a further humiliation for the Kingdom, the Houthis claimed on Wednesday to have using a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile. The group clai