Recently, as a result of the exchange, Ukraine returned 215 of our soldiers from captivity in Russia, 108 of whom are soldiers of the Ukrainian National Guard "Azov" regiment. In exchange for the Russian Federation, Ukraine extradited the head of the OPZZ and Putin's godfather Viktor Medvedchuk, which was insisted by the Russian FSB.
Why Medvedchuk to Russia, and what future awaits his banned OPZZ party. ElitExpert asked the co-founder of BF "Native Bereg", doctor of technical sciences, professor Mykhailo Pozhivanov, who heads the organization of the VO "Batkivshchyna" party in the city of Odesa.
WHY RUSSIA MEDVEDCHUK
After the exchange of prisoners, which is important for us, Russia received Medvedchuk, but there is complete silence about him in their information field. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that ordinary Russians do not need Medvedchuk, but Putin, Medvedev and those who financed him need him very much.
For many years, they tried through their public and political organizations in Ukraine, through the OPZZ itself, to finance separatists and collaborators who were supposed to greet Mr. Putin with flowers, so I think that Medvedchuk is also very necessary for the FSB of Russia.
Moreover, our Security Service reported that it received all the important information from him, where and in what amounts the funding from Russia went and who cooperated with whom - this is all documented by our special services. The Russians probably also want to know what Medvedchuk told us, and what happened to their agents in Ukraine. We understand that in many authorities today, and even in the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies, there may be their agents and "moles". Because there are questions about the surrender of Melitopol, Berdyansk, Novaya Kakhovka and Kherson, which the Russians captured very quickly. We all understand that this is betrayal and collusion. Even people who were People's Deputies of Ukraine from the ruling party and went to the elections with Zelensky under his name — sided with the enemy and headed the occupation authorities.
I could never even think that, for example, a majority People's Deputy from the Kherson region from "Servant of the People", for the sake of some property or something else, became a collaborator and went to work for the enemy against Ukraine. This is impossible to accept. But when I look at the former regionals, OPZJ and "Shariav" - nothing surprises me, because everything is clear with them, how they behaved and what messages they pushed. Therefore, it is good that today the authorities have taken an absolutely correct step, and these parties and their public organizations are completely banned in Ukraine.
But we need to do one more thing, which we also discussed in our party — we need to pass a bill on a complete ban on people from these parties, who were deputies or worked in government bodies, to run for office anywhere for at least 5-10 years, starting from rural, settlement, city council of communities and ending with the Verkhovna Rada.
Today, when there is war and martial law in the country, there is no talk of any elections. I understand that in order to preserve the legitimacy of local authorities, it is not necessary to deprive them of their mandates yet, but the next elections must be held without people from banned parties.
By and large, these people should write statements themselves today and withdraw from all government bodies, from district councils, regional councils, from councils of united territorial communities - where they represent parties of collaborators, already banned by the court, and their main sponsor and ideologist Medvedchuk was detained and exchanged and handed over to Russia. Its deputies should at least bear moral responsibility.
Therefore, I hope that this October such a bill will appear in the parliament from one of the parties, or the President of Ukraine will introduce it for consideration. Because today we see how the majority of the OPZZ both in the Verkhovna Rada and in local councils perfectly vote for everything that the government needs. These people are simply venal and they never had an ideology.
If we talk about the "Motherland", then I am often criticized - they say, you were in power for a long time. But I ask - under what authority? Only two years of Yulia Volodymyrivna's premiership in the fight against Viktor Yushchenko. However, all other years "Batkivshchyna" is constantly in the opposition. And all this time the party exists and works, both in the parliament and on the ground, introducing its bills and protecting the interests of the people.
MONUMENTS AND RENAMING OF STREETS
Today, important and resonant questions about monuments and museums are being raised. For example, the Bulgakov museum in Kyiv, which is proposed to be closed because of his works. In fact, when you enter this museum, most of the exposition there is devoted to the "White Guard" and it should probably be replaced. But perhaps you need to see that not only Bulgakov lived in this house on Andriyivskyi Uzvoza, but also other cultural figures who glorified Ukraine. Maybe you need to add some new exhibits and expositions to the museum.
As for Odesa, where the discussion and voting on the monument to Catherine II continues, we see different attitudes to this issue.
Many Greeks lived in the south of Ukraine for a long time, then the cities of Mariupol, Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny and many other settlements appeared. But I perfectly understand that the very figure of Kateryna and everything related to the Russian Federation disgusts the majority of the population today. And in this situation, I have a slightly different point of view than the head of the city Gennady Trukhanov. I would not leave this monument, because I would remove everything that can divide us in such difficult times for the country.
Today, 90-99% of citizens of our country consider Russia to be an enemy, and this is not for one day, this is for decades. Therefore, when today someone tries to play with such things, to make himself a great intellectual after Pushkin, Gogol and Lermontov, I would not play with such things. This needs to be removed and the sentiments of different population groups should not be manipulated. Time will pass and people will decide for themselves whether they need it or not, but today it is dangerous.
As for the renaming of the streets, the question is also clear, but we can see in Odesa itself that the right things are being said aloud, but the responsible officials in the city council and deputies are trying to delay the issue, or shift the responsibility for it to the citizens. In my opinion, this is not correct. The local authorities have the authority, the people elected you, therefore, understanding the situation, make the appropriate and correct decisions. Because if local deputies and officials will play with such issues, make fools of people, it is not right - because everyone perfectly understands who does what and is responsible for what.
