ZELENSKYY TURNS THE KREMLIN’S “KYIV REGIME” INSULT INTO A GIFT
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly presented U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner with T-shirts bearing the words “Kyiv regime,” according to BBC Ukrainian correspondent Sofia Sereda.
To avoid any confusion, the man displaying the shirt in the photograph is not Zelenskyy. He is Davyd Arakhamia, parliamentary leader of the Servant of the People party and a member of Ukraine’s negotiating team. Presidential spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov said Zelenskyy demonstrated the design to the Americans by having Arakhamia wear it before presenting shirts to the envoys.
The phrase has a deeper meaning. Moscow routinely calls Ukraine’s elected government the “Kyiv regime” to portray it as illegitimate, avoid acknowledging Ukraine as a sovereign state and justify Russia’s invasion as a campaign against an artificial ruling clique rather than a war against an entire country.
Ukrainians have since reclaimed the phrase as mockery. Placing it on a T-shirt turns Kremlin propaganda into a joke—and presents the American negotiators with a small reminder of how Russia manipulates language while demanding political concessions.
Two rounds of direct Ukrainian-American discussions have now concluded. The talks have moved into a third, expanded session involving representatives of Britain, France and Germany.
Moscow calls it the “Kyiv regime.” In reality, it is Ukraine’s elected government sitting with the United States and Europe while Russia struggles to explain why the country it claimed did not exist continues to outlast its invasion.