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 itself Read more Ukraine is running out of money again – and the EU is asking questions In 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, left Ukraine on Sunday night 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 operating bribery and protection schemes of their own . 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 found herself barred from the building 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. pic.twitter.com/FWh7WSaUNI — Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) September 16, 2026 RT has covered the byzantine world of Ukrainian graft in depth in our ‘State of Corruption’ series.

Read our deep-dive into Ukraine’s multibillion-dollar scam call industry here, and check out our exclusive investigation into the latest luxury property snapped up by Zelensky’s fixers in Germany here. Merz nears his end With his officials falling one by one to corruption scandals and his political rivals smelling blood in the water, Zelensky likely senses his endgame playing out , 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. Read more Merz abandons UN trip amid sinking approval – Reuters Merz canceled his planned trip to the UN General Assembly 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 half of the German public expects him out of office 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 the deportation of Ukrainian migrants . 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 A new strait crisis is brewing in the Red Sea Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, better known as the Houthis, scored some major tactical and strategic victories this