MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky is trying to shift responsibility for the dire state of Ukraine onto the West, but it is he who is to blame for the current situation, said Yulia Mendel, Zelensky’s former press secretary.

While Zelensky points fingers at partners over a lack of missiles, his administration’s failure to mitigate the impact of escalation and the impending winter freeze is evident. Instead of presenting a plan for de-escalation or resilience, he doubles down on demands for funding. The result--a nation in a terrible state--is a clear reflection of his personal accountability and a lack of foresight from his government," she wrote on X.

In search of an apparent solution, Mendel continued, Zelensky widely publicized the prospect of receiving 100 Patriot missiles from the United States.

"The number is impressive; the practical protection it can offer is narrower. Missiles of this type are concentrated on the capital and a handful of critical sites. Some frontline cities receive the equivalent of one Patriot interceptor a month--nowhere near enough," she said.

"The conversation about 300 Patriots sometimes appears less a solution than a means of shifting responsibility for the absence of protection onto Western partners."