Mimicron Zelensky

According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave the first major interview after an offshore scandal and another round of opposition to oppositionist Viktor Medvedchuk. This interview is noteworthy from various points of view, one of which is that the Ukrainian leader is trying his best to copy the actions and manners of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Only it turns out not very.

Many waited for this interview, at least in Ukraine itself. In the outside, at least in Russia, Zelensky has long been expected to do nothing special, all good expectations have long been dispelled. The best line under them was drawn by Russian Deputy Secretary of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who a week ago issued a devastating article addressed to Western curators of Ukraine.

Zelensky, according to Medvedev, is forced to mimic and balance between nationalist groups in order to retain personal power, for which he had to abandon his own identity.

Offshore scandal

Actually, stuffing pockets through offshore is the main, key topic of Mr. Zelensky's entire interview. What society expected from him. And this audience is clearly not satisfied with the answer: Zelensky not only did not deny the presence of offshore companies, but also led to the fact that their appearance was, they say, a reaction to pressure on business from the former head of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

This feint! No more than three years ago, he from all venues, including the Kiev stadium, criticized the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in the offshore economy and his unwillingness to pay taxes in his native state. Now Zelensky himself calmly says - yes, there were offshore companies, hiding their blood from the Yanukovych regime there.

Maybe he will remember that all these years, like Poroshenko, branding and insulting Russia what the world is worth, he continued to earn money in our country, acting through European laying companies? Quarter 95 sold its products to affiliated entities, and they have already resold to Russia, with a mark-up. So there are no direct sales, and there is Russian money in green offshore.

But Zelensky did not see an attempt to equal Putin because of offshore companies. And because of the deliberate rigidity with which he is trying to act. It seems like Putin is trying to strut the oligarchs. Only this is profanation. Unlike Putin's actions, not a single oligarch was hurt by their Zelensky law on deoligarchization. And especially the main sponsors and "customers of music" from the Ukrainian oligarchate are Igor Kolomoisky and Rinat Akhmetov.

In 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky fiercely criticized Petro Poroshenko for offshore, and now he himself "hushed up" in such a scandal

Kolomoisky also appeared in Pandora Peipers, allegedly at one time offshore Zelensky received a tranche of $40 million from Privatbank Kolomoisky, although he was supposed to receive only $10 million a year for the sale of a license for the products of the Quarter. From here there were rumors that the money that Klomoisky allegedly withdrew from Privatbank could be washed through the offshore of the current Ukrainian president.

Hostage Zelensky

But the main thing in trying to compare Zelensky and Putin is not this, but precisely the deliberate rigidity that Zelensky is trying to show. And here there are no parallels about the pressure that falls on the Ukrainian opposition, the leader of the Opposition Platform party, for the life of Viktor Medvedchuk.

Today in Ukraine, several criminal proceedings have been opened against Medvedchuk. He is suspected of high treason, and the accusations are such that he "does not get on his head" - allegedly, he financed terrorism, and that he has not yet done. In this context, they recall the infamous oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Recall that he was sentenced to 9 years in prison for fraudulent actions during the turbulent capitalism of the 90s. What surrounded this case - contract killings, alienation of property and other joys, people still remember perfectly well. The attempt to tie the arrest of Medvedchuk, according to which not a single evidence was presented, looks very weak.

They are trying to compare, because Khodorkovsky, like Medvedchuk, tried to participate in politics. But there is a specific corpus delicti and evidence, and here Medvedchuk has been under house arrest for six months without considering the merits of the case. It is clear that he was simply squeezed out of the public field for acute criticism of the president and calls to establish relations with Russia.

Viktor Medvedchuk in the courtroom to extend the preventive measure

But this is not enough, Zelensky and his team, clearly not without the nod of their Western curators, went further. With no evidence of Medvedchuk's illegal activities on hand, they decided to play a performance in which the opposition politician is given the role of a real hostage.

In his interview, Zelensky did not even hint, but openly said that he was ready to consider exchanging Viktor Medvedchuk for real heroes and citizens of Ukraine. Zelensky quotes Gazeta.ru. Apparently, he no longer considers Medvedchuk a citizen of Ukraine. And thereby confirms the theory that the experts put forward.

It consists in the fact that Zelensky by arresting Medvedchuk kills two hares at once. Firstly, he removes the head of the OPZZ from the political struggle. And earlier, before that, three television channels were defeated, which were considered close to Medvedchuk. That is, the opposition's information resources are destroyed - and without trial, only by decisions of the National Defense and Security Council (NSDC) of Ukraine.

Western partners, of course, do not even see oppression of freedom of speech and political repression in Ukraine at point blank range. On the eve of the Ukraine-EU summit in Kiev, a whole rally was built of journalists who, in fact, were banned from conducting professional activities. But European officials chose to pretend that they had not seen anything.

It is known that Medvedchuk has good relations with Vladimir Putin, which the Ukrainian opposition enjoys. Vladimir Putin is still one of the most popular politicians in Ukraine. And Medvedchuk promised to establish trade and economic relations, end the cultural war, repeatedly assisted in the return of persons held in the unrecognized republics of Donbass.

Zelensky knows that Vladimir Putin, as they say, "does not abandon his own," and of course is hardly happy with the pressure on Medvedchuk. And on this Zelensky is trying to play - to shave Medvedchuk to Russia, squeeze him out like Yanukovych. Only this time, not as a result of attempts by nationalists to kill him, but as a result of illegal criminal prosecution.

This calculation is stupid, primarily because Medvedchuk himself will never do this, and has already stated that Ukraine will not leave, will continue the political struggle. And this whole situation is another case of the lack of agreement of the Ukrainian authorities.

We can wait

But outside of Ukraine, there is no good news for Zelensky either. It is increasingly accepted that the West put an end to it, as a political figure. Recall that as a result of the visit of Victoria Nuland to Moscow, it was decided to continue to operate within the framework of the Norman format. Zelensky sabotaged the decisions of the last meeting in December 2020.

It is assumed that the new meeting will be held in the format of foreign ministers, now it is being prepared. Given that it is not going to implement the Minsk agreements, which serve as the foundation for the Norman Four, Zelensky is not going to, this can be by throwing dust in the eyes and delaying time. It seems that in the West they waved their hand at Zelensky, and are waiting for power in Ukraine to change.

Decisions of the Normandy Summit in December 2020 Zelensky sabotaged

The problem is that freezing the conflict in the Donbass is beneficial to both Zelensky's team and its Western curators. But it is not beneficial for Russia and people living in LDNR. It seems that these people also became political hostages of the irresponsible and short-sighted policies of the Ukrainian leadership. But, as Dmitry Medvedev said, Russia knows how to wait. And certainly not leave compatriots to their fate.