WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL 2022
MEDVEDCHUK
• Zelensky was criticized before the war for his use of sanctions against media mogul Medvedchuk, one of the leaders of the pro-Kremlin party Opposition Platform – For Life.
• Putin is the godfather to Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter.
February 14, 2022
- The Los Angeles Times wrote that Ukrainians, before the invasion, were “starting to wonder whether their…president has the smarts and strength to lead them…”
- They quoted a woman from the Democratic Initiatives Foundation saying: “Since the beginning of the current tensions last year, Zelensky lost the public’s trust.”
- They cited criticisms of Zelensky as a “jester-turned-king wholly unsuited to the situation at hand.”
- The Times quoted another women saying that Zelensky was “disrespectful to Biden.”
- Yet another women was quoted as taking about “frustration over the contradictory messaging.”
- The article notes that Zelensky ran on a platform of “ending the war in the east in a way palatable to Ukrainians and breaking up corrupt oligarchs’ hold over the economy.”
- Zelensky, the article maintains “failed to bring peace, angering pro-Russian Ukrainians” and “infuriating others who saw him as weak.”
- Zelensky passed some land reforms, but his fight against corruption “was hardly a success.” (quote from another woman)
- The Deputy Chief Economist at the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, is quoted as blaming Zelensky for the fact that he has not “changed the fundamental structure of the government in Ukraine, which is still corrupted by oligarchs.” She said that Zelensky “failed to create institutional structures that could independently fight corruption rather than when it was convenient for him as president.” (Quote from article).
- The article then cites “critics” who has problems with Zelensky’s use of sanctions against media mogul Viktor Medvedchuk.
- Medvedchuk was charged with high treason. His television network was shut down and placed under house arrest.
- Another oligarch, Ihor Kolomoisky, who backed Zelensky’s election, faced no charges but was sanctioned in the U.S. “Critics” found fault with Zelensky for this.
- Zelensky’s moves against former president Poroshenko, charges including treason, were criticized as “political opportunism.”
- The article then cites other criticisms of Zelensky’s inner circle, “comedy industry veterans with little experience.”
Note: Zelensky’s moves against Medvedchuk seem wise in retrospect.
