Week’s milestones. Echoes of shooting, political fighting in regions, and alarming backpacks

The attempt on Amina Okuyeva and Adam Osmayev expectedly resonated with the public. Several thousand backpacks for the National Guard almost became a stumbling block for the duo of parties in power. The results of the elections in the unified territorial communities were another high-profile event this week. The protest outside parliament walls did not put before the authorities any insoluble problems. Vladislav Kaskiv was returned to Ukraine against his own will.

Ukraine, which continues to repel Russia’s hybrid aggression, is lacking heroes. And the assassination of Amina Okuyeva, who in a certain sense picked up the image of the woman-defender from the hands of Nadiia Savchenko, is an excellent confirmation of this idea. The Ukrainian society reacted in social networks to the repeated (and unfortunately, more successful this time) attempt on a couple of volunteers by an outburst of anger targeted  at the SBU, although it was not the agency’s operatives who were tasked with ensuring the pair’s security. Meanwhile, SBU chief Vasyl Hrytsak reported on 22 prevented terrorist attacks in the first half of 2017 and the arrest of a woman, who was charged with planting an IED under the car of a high-ranking regional counter-intelligence opeartive Oleksandr Kharaberiush in the spring of this year. Hardly anyone expects that the latest assassination attempt will be investigated swiftly, while Osmayev himself stressed that he had no complaints against Ukrainian law enforcers.

It would be fair to say that it was not Okuyeva’s murder but the infamous “backpack case” starring the interior minister’s son which jeopardized the relations on the political Olympus. The move by NABU has once again seen a powerful response, indicating that the fight against corruption in Ukraine has some impressive prospects. It seems that those who boosted this corruption-related investigation had kept in mind the minister’s temper. Throughout the day of the highest aggravation in relations between BPP and the Popular Front, the Ukrainians managed to find out not only that the Revolution on the Maidan would not have happened without the current leaders of Popular Front, but also that the efforts by NABU are politicized (as seen by the interior ministry’s press service). I would like to emphasize that Arsen Avakov did not attempt to go on a leave pending the probe, while the ministry unexpectedly revealed the lack of ankle bracelets.

Perhaps this is jsut a coincidence, but on the day of his son’s detention by NABU, Arsen Avakov ordered the National Guards to withdraw from the tent camp outside parliament walls, not to waste their energy on protecting the "rubbish" as he put it. In a civilized world, such statements hinting at the official’s fellow citizens aer usually followed by an end to their careers. In our realities, the minister is hardly threatened by anything. Although, the allies of Saakashvili, Semenchenko and Sobolev have failed to puzzle the authorities either by the size of the protest or by any effective action. Moreover, the most popular man among the rally’s inspirators is now trying to achieve a refugee status, bringing a touch of absurdity into the whole group’s moves.

Yulia Tymoshenko spent the entire week, fighting for the results of the elections in the unified territorial communities. Batkivshchyna leader branded them "the first round of presidential and parliamentary elections," and certainly did not intend to retreat. Especially, in conditions when representatives of the pro-presidential political force and self-nominated candidates began to press the members of her party. Tymoshenko was firmly speaking up on “unprecedented falsifications” and she assured everyone in a victory of her party members.

No less interesting than the dispute between these two parliamentary parties over the election results "on the ground" was a frankly weak performance of a number of their parliamentary colleagues. Perhaps, it’s only the Radicals who can talk about some success, while the rest approached the elections in UTCs quite formally.

Volodymyr Groysman not only presented his Canadian colleague with a set of fashionable socks made in Ukraine, but also intends to seek adoption of the draft budget-2018, together with new rules for the privatization of state-owned enterprises. As we know, in order to buy something, you need to sell what you don’t need. However, the Ukrainian authorities experience some difficulties with that. However, privatization of government assets is one of the most effective methods of replenishing the country’s treasury.

Former leader of the PORA party and ex-head of the National Projects Vladyslav Kaskiv, who has long evaded communication with the Ukrainian law enforcers, was returned to Ukraine, not only paying for his Transatlantic flight, but also compensating around 7 million in damages. However,  Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko claims that the amount of damage inflicted is much greater. It is interesting, however, to see how long those angry vocal anticorruption outbursts will be combined with the lack of changes in the Criminal Procedure Code, which in its present form allows corrupt officials and bribe takers to feel rather comfortable.

Yevgeny Magda

UNIAN in Google News