Who is Poroshenko aiming at when he shoots at the former head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces?
As the Ukrainian presidential election approaches, the arsenal of means used by candidates against each other is becoming more brutal.
Of course, the current President Poroshenko holds the leadership in this matter. Simply due to the fact that more power and administrative resources are concentrated in his hands. And recent events indicate that the guarantor, as they say in certain circles, has gone into chaos.
Today's news brought two seemingly unrelated pieces of news. A high-ranking military officer, Volodymyr Zamana, former Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under Viktor Yanukovych, has been arrested in Kyiv and charged with treason. The colonel general faces 10 to 15 years in prison and a preventive measure in the form of unconditional arrest. The current government wants to pin on him the reduction of the army, the destruction of Ukraine's air defense forces and military aviation, the sale of military equipment, and much more—as they say, head over heels. Details from Chief Military Prosecutor Matios are available at this link.
We are interested in another question. Why was this case brought to light right now and why did Poroshenko suddenly need a high-profile trial of a high-ranking “traitor to the Motherland” exactly a month before the elections. The disposition here is like this.
The much-hyped “case of Savchenko and Ruban” is still stalled and cannot be completed with a judicial verdict before the elections. But the authorities successfully convicted ex-President Yanukovych in absentia for “treason.” And this is already something. Let me remind you that one of the pillars of Poroshenko’s campaign is the army. The flourishing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the current commander-in-chief and his brilliant strategists-commanders Poltorak and Muzhenko should look more convincing against the backdrop of stories about the abyss into which the “pareders” drove the army. Moreover, the court “established” that the convicted traitor Yanukovych acted not alone, but as part of an organized crime group. Well, everything is logical. The first one went.
But this is only part of the puzzle. The most basic fragment has the surname Gritsenko. The same Anatoly Stepanovich who today storms the office on Bankovaya, among 44 other applicants, convincing the people by his own example that “there are more honest ones.” This is exactly what his campaign slogan sounds like. As we remember, Gritsenko is not only a reserve colonel, but also served as the country’s Minister of Defense for several years under Yushchenko. Naturally, he credits this to himself, but Poroshenko’s technologists chose him to play the role of that same “bastard” who can be blamed for everything bad that is and was in the Ukrainian army, leaving the current guarantor only to hand over housing orders to the military, and military units - new types of weapons.
The saga of accusations against Hrytsenko of destroying and selling off the army has been ongoing since 2016. And last year, in 2018, Ivan Vynnyk, a member of parliament from the BPP, delivered a high-profile, incriminating report in the Rada on Hrytsenko's abuses. According to information posted on the parliament's website, during Hrytsenko's tenure as Minister of Defense of Ukraine (from February 2005 to December 18, 2007), 248 anti-aircraft missile systems, 198 tanks, 192 combat aircraft, 152 infantry fighting vehicles, 14 helicopters, and 6 missile systems were sold; 248 anti-aircraft missile systems, 698 tanks, 192 combat aircraft, 1322 infantry fighting vehicles, 56 helicopters, and 18 missile systems were withdrawn from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Those interested in learning more can do so here.
Among other things, Gritsenko was accused of allegedly being involved “in the collapse of the anti-aircraft missile forces and the air defense system.” And this accusation coincides almost word for word with the one brought against Zamana.
In general, the Poroshenko MP Vinnik assured the public that “the actions of A. Gritsenko contain signs of a crime, responsibility for which is provided for in the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office at number No. 42016000000000889 entered data on the corresponding offense committed by Gritsenko A.” Last fall, Anatoly Gritsenko sued another Poroshenko deputy, Alexander Briginets, for libel, demanding to refute information about his involvement in the collapse of the army.
Which one of them destroyed the Armed Forces of Ukraine - let the courts sort it out. We are interested in one undeniably political aspect of this matter. From the very start of the campaign, Gritsenko was rightfully considered one of the favorites of the race and, before Vladimir Zelensky appeared on the list, he invariably took third place with the prospect of reaching second. Moreover, what is important, Gritsenko works in the same electoral field as Poroshenko – pro-Maidan, militaristic and nationalist. Claims the votes of patriots, only patriots who are offended and dissatisfied. Those who consider Poroshenko a “zradnik”. Accordingly, the task of the guarantor is to make sure that the “zrada” passes on to the competitor, like the hiccups on Fedot in the folk saying.
But since the pre-election period is in full swing, and the observance of “European standards” is closely monitored by international observers and human rights organizations and grant-eaters and Western embassies, with whom Gritsenko has long been friends through his wife, the editor-in-chief of the Kyiv publication “Zerkalo Nedeli” Yulia Mostovaya, Gritsenko has long been friends with the colonel. in the forehead is more expensive. Therefore, Poroshenko’s “normal heroes” took a detour. And they began to “dig” against a dangerous competitor through less politicized figures in the leadership of the army during the Yanukovych era. Hoping through them to “hook” Gritsenko himself into the criminal proceedings. To which, as it were, the trail “leads.” Moreover, everyone knows the friendly relations between Zamana and Gritsenko.
When Yanukovych fired Zamana from the post of Chief of the General Staff at the height of the Maidan, Gritsenko characterized him this way on his Facebook:
"I know the Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Vladimir Zamana, well: this officer would never have agreed to turning paratroopers into police officers who, instead of protecting the people from an external enemy, would defend the government from its own people. Therefore, Zamana no longer commands either the General Staff or the Armed Forces—the army's 'new' tasks require a different 'commander'," the then opposition leader commented on Zamana's replacement with Admiral Yuri Ilyin, "Novinsky's man."
So, as we see, linking the ex-Chief of the General Staff to the ex-Minister of Defense is not so difficult. There would be a desire, but the archives are not burning. This solves several issues at once. Firstly, on the eve of the elections, a competitor is discredited. Secondly, in addition to, in fact, army corruption, Gritsenko is “tied” in the minds of his target audience to Yanukovych, who is odious for them. And this is not just a double blow, but right in the gut.
It seems that events were accelerated by the fact that a couple of days earlier, on February 23—Defender of the Fatherland Day—Grytsenko won a case in the Supreme Court against the Poroshenko-controlled Central Election Commission regarding remote access to the holy of holies—voter registers.
The court ordered Poroshenko’s “faggots” to gather for a meeting and consider this issue. The importance of which is difficult to overestimate, because we are talking about a reservoir of “dead souls” who, if they are not cleared from the register in time, will “vote” for Poroshenko. There is reason to believe that it was this event that overwhelmed Bankova’s patience and they decided not to wait for the end of March, but to fire a cannon at such an impudent sparrow right now.
And even more convincing of the correctness of the initial conclusion about the interconnection of today’s detention of Vladimir Zamana with Bankova’s machinations against Anatoly Gritsenko is another event that also took place today.
At issue is the Kyiv Garrison Military Prosecutor's Office's decision to consolidate previously opened criminal cases concerning the sale of property belonging to a disbanded military unit in Kyiv and the alleged involvement of former Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko. These cases relate to two criminal investigations opened by the Central Region Military Prosecutor's Office during the election campaign, on January 16, 2019, concerning fraud involving 100 million hryvnias involving the sale of Defense Ministry property at 14 Boryspilska Street in Kyiv. Hrytsenko, then Minister of Defense, allegedly initiated the illegal transaction by signing the relevant order.
So, it looks like something's starting. What exactly—we'll see. For now, let's stock up on popcorn and take our front-row seats. Especially since today, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced the opening of two criminal cases against Poroshenko's favorite and his right-hand man in the Verkhovna Rada, deputy head of the BPP faction Serhiy Berezenko, on charges of preparing to rig the elections.
“Berezenko became a defendant in proceedings based on statements by at least two presidential candidates. And his name, as the organizer of the schemes, is mentioned in a number of appeals. We cannot fail to record these complaints and conduct an investigation,” Avakov said. Avakov named one of the complainant candidates. This is Yulia Tymoshenko. Can you guess three times what the second one's name is?
The show called “SDD” must go on.
English version :: Read in English Who is Poroshenko targeting when he shoots the former head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces?