Kiev: UkraineFormer US President Petro Poroshenko landed in Kiev on Monday to face treason charges, saying he was betrayed by allies of his successor Volodymyr zelensky,
In a brief standoff at border control after arriving on a flight from Warsaw, Poroshenko accused border guards of taking away his passport. He later greeted a crowd of thousands of supporters cheering and waving flags outside the airport.
Poroshenko’s withdrawal sets off a showdown with President Zelensky’s government, which critics say is a misguided decision as Ukraine prepares for a possible Russian military offensive and seeks the support of its Western allies.
Western diplomats called for political unity in Ukraine ahead of the arrival of Poroshenko, who served as president from 2014 to 2019.
Poroshenko, 56, is being investigated for alleged treason involving the financing of Russian-backed separatist fighters through illegal coal sales in 2014-15. If found guilty, he could face 15 years in prison. His party accused Zelensky of a reckless attempt to silence political opposition.
Zelensky’s administration maintains that the prosecutor and judiciary are independent and accuses Poroshenko of thinking he is above the law. Zelensky defeated Poroshenko in an election in 2019. He ran on a ticket to combat corruption and curb the influence of oligarchs in the former Soviet republic.
“We are not here to defend Poroshenko, but to unite and defend Ukraine,” Poroshenko told the crowd before heading to the Pechersk court in central Kiev to hear his case, when supporters Slogans were raised outside the building.
During a pause in the court session, he told the crowd: “The officers are confused, weak and instead of fighting (the Russian president) Vladimir) Putin, they are trying to fight us.”
State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) spokeswoman Tetiana Sapyan told a separate briefing that the DBR is apolitical.
The court eventually deferred a decision on ordering Poroshenko’s arrest after a session lasting about 12 hours. After the hearing was over, the former president and supporters created a ruckus. The hearing will resume on Wednesday.
“Today we didn’t win the war, we didn’t win the battle, but we kept our position, preventing them from moving,” Poroshenko told the crowd.
build russian army
On Friday, Zelensky’s chief of staff rejected suggestions that Zelensky was behaving like a former president, Viktor Yanukovich, who has the backing of Russia and whose political rival Yulia Tymoshenko He was imprisoned in a case that Westerners widely condemned as politicised.
Ukraine has tried to rally Western support in its standoff with Moscow after raising the alarm about the build-up of thousands of Russian troops near its borders.
Poroshenko, a confectioner’s businessman, was elected as the head of the Western government after protests in the ground that ousted Yanukovich in 2014.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia fell apart in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and supported separatist fighters in conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Prosecutors asked a Ukrainian court to arrest Poroshenko in December, setting the possibility of bail at 1 billion hryvnia ($37 million).
In a brief standoff at border control after arriving on a flight from Warsaw, Poroshenko accused border guards of taking away his passport. He later greeted a crowd of thousands of supporters cheering and waving flags outside the airport.
Poroshenko’s withdrawal sets off a showdown with President Zelensky’s government, which critics say is a misguided decision as Ukraine prepares for a possible Russian military offensive and seeks the support of its Western allies.
Western diplomats called for political unity in Ukraine ahead of the arrival of Poroshenko, who served as president from 2014 to 2019.
Poroshenko, 56, is being investigated for alleged treason involving the financing of Russian-backed separatist fighters through illegal coal sales in 2014-15. If found guilty, he could face 15 years in prison. His party accused Zelensky of a reckless attempt to silence political opposition.
Zelensky’s administration maintains that the prosecutor and judiciary are independent and accuses Poroshenko of thinking he is above the law. Zelensky defeated Poroshenko in an election in 2019. He ran on a ticket to combat corruption and curb the influence of oligarchs in the former Soviet republic.
“We are not here to defend Poroshenko, but to unite and defend Ukraine,” Poroshenko told the crowd before heading to the Pechersk court in central Kiev to hear his case, when supporters Slogans were raised outside the building.
During a pause in the court session, he told the crowd: “The officers are confused, weak and instead of fighting (the Russian president) Vladimir) Putin, they are trying to fight us.”
State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) spokeswoman Tetiana Sapyan told a separate briefing that the DBR is apolitical.
The court eventually deferred a decision on ordering Poroshenko’s arrest after a session lasting about 12 hours. After the hearing was over, the former president and supporters created a ruckus. The hearing will resume on Wednesday.
“Today we didn’t win the war, we didn’t win the battle, but we kept our position, preventing them from moving,” Poroshenko told the crowd.
build russian army
On Friday, Zelensky’s chief of staff rejected suggestions that Zelensky was behaving like a former president, Viktor Yanukovich, who has the backing of Russia and whose political rival Yulia Tymoshenko He was imprisoned in a case that Westerners widely condemned as politicised.
Ukraine has tried to rally Western support in its standoff with Moscow after raising the alarm about the build-up of thousands of Russian troops near its borders.
Poroshenko, a confectioner’s businessman, was elected as the head of the Western government after protests in the ground that ousted Yanukovich in 2014.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia fell apart in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and supported separatist fighters in conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Prosecutors asked a Ukrainian court to arrest Poroshenko in December, setting the possibility of bail at 1 billion hryvnia ($37 million).
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