The long knives are out! As Oliver Carroll writes,
"Volodymyr Zelensky, a 73-per-cent man of the people, is the pied piper of a record-breaking 254 deputies, plucked from the nation.
...
But critics point to the team’s inexperience, and an approach to political enemies that, they say, is not entirely out of sync with 1917.
...
The prosecutions are mostly being pushed by Andriy Portnov, a powerful lawyer and a former deputy head of the Yanukovych administration. But there are enough informal links – Mr Portnov is close to Andriy Bohdan, Zelensky’s pugnacious chief of staff, and described in some quarters as his teacher – to raise suspicions. " (The Independent : 5 August 2019) (my emphasis)
As Portnov (left) says,
“You’re calling it revenge?” He says. “Well that’s your interpretation. Write that revenge was bleeding from my eyes if you like. I’d prefer to describe it as restoring justice and fulfilling a promise.” (ibid Oliver Carroll) (my emphasis)
And whilst President Zelensky is sharpening his knives against his former opponents, Christopher Miller reports that,
"The presidential campaign of Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied hiring a Washington lobbying firm to burnish his image in the U.S. capital, but one such firm recently reported being paid nearly $70,000 to do just that for the team of the newly elected Ukrainian president.
Lobbying firm Signal Group Consulting, LLC, filed a disclosure report with the U.S. Department of Justice on July 17 that showed work done on behalf of Zelenskiy in Washington between April 3 and May 21, a period of time that included the presidential runoff that Zelenskiy won and the day he took the oath of office." (RFERL : 2 August 2019) (my emphasis)
Which raises the critical question :-
"Will the voters, who thought that they were voting against corruption and for a new broom, get what they hoped for."
And, as demonstrations against Putin's rule continue to surface in Moscow (BBC 27 July 2019, Aljazeera 3 August 2019), and Putin views his opponents as heeding Zelensky's call" ... to see what is “possible” if one does what Ukraine is doing and offering Ukrainian citizenship to those, including Russians, who are struggling against authoritarian regimes", is it not inevitable that Putin will re-focus his anger against Ukraine?
This is perhaps best illustrated by,
"Russia's hybrid military forces on August 4 mounted six attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. "Proscribed weapons – 82mm mortars – were used in one instance," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said in an update posted on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on August 5, 2019." (UNIAN : 5 August 2019) (my emphasis)
Furthermore,
"The OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine in their report said their monitors had recorded a number of heavy weapons, banned by the Minsk Agreements, in the area of Luhansk region controlled by Russian-led forces." (UNIAN : 2 August 2019) (my emphasis)
Whilst as yet not veering away from the military stance against Putin's Russian soldiers and rebel proxies in the Donbas, President Zelensky should tread carefully, especially with a politically naive Rada majority that has needed to go to a 'boot camp' for training as 'politicians'.
As Margaryta Chornokondratenko and Natalia Zinets write,
" [Zelensky] did not allow former lawmakers to run on his party’s ticket. Instead, the slate ran the gamut from a wedding photographer to a world champion Greco-Roman wrestler.
...
(to be continued)
"Volodymyr Zelensky, a 73-per-cent man of the people, is the pied piper of a record-breaking 254 deputies, plucked from the nation.
...
But critics point to the team’s inexperience, and an approach to political enemies that, they say, is not entirely out of sync with 1917.
The prosecutions are mostly being pushed by Andriy Portnov, a powerful lawyer and a former deputy head of the Yanukovych administration. But there are enough informal links – Mr Portnov is close to Andriy Bohdan, Zelensky’s pugnacious chief of staff, and described in some quarters as his teacher – to raise suspicions. " (The Independent : 5 August 2019) (my emphasis)
As Portnov (left) says,“You’re calling it revenge?” He says. “Well that’s your interpretation. Write that revenge was bleeding from my eyes if you like. I’d prefer to describe it as restoring justice and fulfilling a promise.” (ibid Oliver Carroll) (my emphasis)
And whilst President Zelensky is sharpening his knives against his former opponents, Christopher Miller reports that,
"The presidential campaign of Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied hiring a Washington lobbying firm to burnish his image in the U.S. capital, but one such firm recently reported being paid nearly $70,000 to do just that for the team of the newly elected Ukrainian president.
Lobbying firm Signal Group Consulting, LLC, filed a disclosure report with the U.S. Department of Justice on July 17 that showed work done on behalf of Zelenskiy in Washington between April 3 and May 21, a period of time that included the presidential runoff that Zelenskiy won and the day he took the oath of office." (RFERL : 2 August 2019) (my emphasis)
Which raises the critical question :-
"Will the voters, who thought that they were voting against corruption and for a new broom, get what they hoped for."
And, as demonstrations against Putin's rule continue to surface in Moscow (BBC 27 July 2019, Aljazeera 3 August 2019), and Putin views his opponents as heeding Zelensky's call" ... to see what is “possible” if one does what Ukraine is doing and offering Ukrainian citizenship to those, including Russians, who are struggling against authoritarian regimes", is it not inevitable that Putin will re-focus his anger against Ukraine?This is perhaps best illustrated by,
"Russia's hybrid military forces on August 4 mounted six attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. "Proscribed weapons – 82mm mortars – were used in one instance," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said in an update posted on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on August 5, 2019." (UNIAN : 5 August 2019) (my emphasis)
Furthermore,"The OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine in their report said their monitors had recorded a number of heavy weapons, banned by the Minsk Agreements, in the area of Luhansk region controlled by Russian-led forces." (UNIAN : 2 August 2019) (my emphasis)
Whilst as yet not veering away from the military stance against Putin's Russian soldiers and rebel proxies in the Donbas, President Zelensky should tread carefully, especially with a politically naive Rada majority that has needed to go to a 'boot camp' for training as 'politicians'.
As Margaryta Chornokondratenko and Natalia Zinets write,
" [Zelensky] did not allow former lawmakers to run on his party’s ticket. Instead, the slate ran the gamut from a wedding photographer to a world champion Greco-Roman wrestler.
...
The new lawmakers gathered in a hotel conference hall in the town of Truskavets in the Carpathian foothills for a week-long course, where classes last from 9 in the morning to 10 at night." (Reuters : 31 July 2019) (my emphasis)
How will these political 'rookies' of Zelensky react when Putin tries to deflect the eyes of the Russian people away from their ongoing economic hardships and political oppression by ramping up his war with Ukraine?
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