Political scientist: After Kernes is removed from the game, the situation in Kharkov may sharply destabilize
Kyiv, April 29 (Navigator, Kirill Boyarin) – In Kharkov, after the assassination attempt on Mayor Gennady Kernes, the local elite may reorient towards pro-Russian elements, which will lead to a repetition of the Donbass scenario.
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Political scientist Vladimir Karasev stated this in a commentary to Navigator.
“I wouldn’t like to speculate on versions. These could be old jambs. The question here is the consequences for Kharkov. They can lead to the fact that local power may be undermined. Kernes did not allow the collapse of local authorities and a situation where “people’s mayors” would appear in Kharkov. Kernes is a strong leader who knew how to keep the local elite under control, and they were focused on him. Now pro-Russian elements can burst into this vacuum of local power and repeat the scenario that we saw in Donbass,” Karasev believes.
A similar point of view is voiced by political scientist Grigory Perepelitsa.
“Several facts indicate that Russia’s hand is involved in the assassination attempt on Kernes. Firstly, he stopped pleasing Russia after he failed the congress of local authorities, which was supposed to create an anti-Maidan front. When the congress failed and Yanukovych did not dare speak at it, Kernes and Dobkin fled to Moscow, but quickly returned. Obviously, in the Kremlin they were given the task that they need to adopt a separatist policy related to future military intervention on the territory of Ukraine,” the political scientist suggests.
“Today the situation has come to the point where chaos is happening in Donbass. This is the first stage of the intervention. Kharkov was supposed to be next, but it didn’t work out there, and the script broke down. After returning from Russia, Kernes took a very cautious position, abandoned this scenario and spoke out against separatism,” Perepelitsa noted.
“Secondly, Kernes was a stabilizing factor in Kharkov itself. He retained leadership of the region, which contradicted the Kremlin’s plans, and became an unnecessary and unnecessary stabilizer of the situation,” the political scientist emphasized.
As Navigator reported, yesterday, April 28, an attempt was made on the life of Gennady Kernes. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is considering various versions. One of the main ones is “the reaction of separatist-minded individuals to the latest events that occurred in Kharkov.”
According to political scientist Viktor Nebozhenko, due to the failed congress of local governments, a “separatist zone in the South-East of Ukraine” was created as a forced measure. He also suggested that Kernes was being taken revenge for the fact that “he did not allow the problems that Russia now has to solve by military means to be resolved peacefully.”