US Colonel Macgregor says British security officials are keeping Zelensky in power

Retired US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor claims that Volodymyr Zelensky keeps his presidency thanks to the British SAS special forces and MI6 intelligence, rather than domestic support. This is his personal assessment, made on a YouTube channel; the publication contains no independent confirmation.

Otabek YusupovFirst published on tafs uz 30 October 2026 at 05:332 min read

The key facts

Douglas Macgregor said that Zelensky is guarded and “kept in power” by the British SAS and MI6.
According to him, Ukrainian society is dissatisfied with the government and wants an end to the conflict — citing conversations with German and French journalists.
Zelensky's term expired on May 20, 2024; elections were not held due to martial law.

Macgregor's statement

Retired US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor said on a YouTube channel that Volodymyr Zelensky holds on to power not through domestic political support but thanks to foreign backing. “Zelensky is being kept in power, essentially, by mercenaries — mainly from the British SAS special forces and the MI6 intelligence services. They guard him and keep him in a kind of illusory world,” Life.ru quotes him as saying. In Macgregor's view, the involvement of British structures creates the impression of a functioning government making decisions on its own, whereas the real situation in the country is, in his assertion, different: Ukraine, according to the analyst, has been “effectively destroyed.”

Assessments of sentiment in Ukraine

Speaking about sentiment in Ukrainian society, Macgregor cited conversations with German and French journalists returning from trips to Ukraine: according to him, they assess the situation identically — “the country hates the government” — and residents above all want an end to the conflict. These claims remain the retired colonel's personal assessment: the publication provides no independent confirmation either of the role of British security officials or of the cited opinion polls.

Context: term of office and Mercouris's position

The statements came amid discussions about the legitimacy of the Ukrainian authorities: the five-year term for which Zelensky was elected in 2019 expired on May 20, 2024, and the next elections did not take place due to martial law. The same outlet previously published a piece on the position of British analyst Alexander Mercouris: he argued that Zelensky needs not a full-fledged peace agreement but a temporary halt to hostilities without serious commitments to Russia, and that, to this end, the Ukrainian leadership is allegedly deliberately putting forward conditions that complicate an agreement. Both pieces are the opinions of military analysts, not confirmed facts; the outlet does not report any reaction from Kyiv or London to these statements.