Ukraine.
Only three weeks left until the presidential election there. March 31st will be a fateful day for Poroshenko. It will then become clear whether he passes onto the second round. For now, according to the latest opinion polls in Ukraine, published by the Kiev Analysis and Forecasting Institute, Poroshenko's popularity has fallen to third place.
Actor and comedian Vladimir Zelenskiy is still holding first place, at 25.2%. Former prime minister Yulia Timoshenko reached second place, at 17.9%. Poroshenko is at 15.4%. Yuriy Boyko, leader of Opposition Platform — For Life, is on his heels, at 13.8%.
Poroshenko sank because of the huge corruption scandal that burst when they discovered schemes of purchasing overpriced spare parts for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Poroshenko patronized it all. He profits from the dirty war on Donbass. Yulia Timoshenko intends to jail three friends of Poroshenko for that and then jail the current president by using their testimonies. Yulia Timoshenko, candidate for the presidency from the "Fatherland" party: Those who did bloodstained corruption will answer to martial law: they will receive a life sentence. Of course, only if Poroshenko doesn't flee from Ukraine before that. They're already even talking about that.
He understands that Ukraine started living at its worst during his rule and there is no state affair where he has succeeded. He waged war poorly, pocket after pocket, he only a profit from supplying the army, but never created modern armed forces. He sank the economy, made debts, made the schism in the church even wider. He quarreled with Russia, got nothing from America and Europe. The visa-free regime resulted in millions of emigrants.
In Greek mythology, there was a king named Midas. Everything he touched would turn into gold. It's quite the opposite with Poroshenko; whatever he touches in the government falls apart. Meanwhile, he won't stop drinking. He was drinking during the Maidan, he's been drinking during his whole term. There's more than enough evidence. It's a good thing that the TV screen doesn't broadcast the smell.
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Meanwhile, Poroshenko is definitely aiming for unfair competition. He placed wiretaps on the roof of Vladimir Zelenskiy's office. A criminal case was filed this week on Zelenskiy himself.
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Witnessing such a dirty fuss, one can't help but come to the conclusion that Poroshenko plans to decide the fate of the elections by using a power approach. Until recently, his main resource was Arsen Avakov, the Minister of Interior Affairs. However, according to many signs, Avakov is distancing himself from Poroshenko. Poroshenko's circle is already thinking of a substitute. Anyway, Poroshenko's headquarters don't see Avakov as the future Minister of Interior.
However, even the SBU, Ukraine's intelligence agency, is not so confident in Poroshenko's victory. Or they just don't want to participate in another bloody take-over for Poroshenko. Anyway, the SBU has cold feet. Most of the leadership there made tracks abroad. For example, the Head of the SBU, General Vasyl Hrytsak, flew to the USA on his birthday in January. Last year, he visited the USA, Canada, and Austria several times in order to acquire real estate and citizenship. He's an unprincipled opportunist. He uses his service to deal with personal matters and for additional benefits.
Major General Viktor Kononenko, Deputy Head of the SBU, supervises the work of the National Sovereignty Protection Department. Having Latvian ancestry, he's now officializing his Latvian citizenship. He has real estate in Spain. Working over Poroshenko's political competitors, he understands that they'll seek revenge. He supervises Poroshenko's business. He has enough money to emigrate abroad.
Major General Pavel Demchina, First Deputy Head of the SBU, head of the Main Directorate on Corruption and Organized Crime Counteraction. He is the main supervisor of Rada member Igor Kononenko's semi-legal business schemes and, at the same time, the so-called moneybag of Petro Poroshenko. He has stable connections with the Ukrainian criminal world. According to his colleagues, he can easily move to the European Union.
Lieutenant General Oleg Frolov, Deputy Head of the SBU, supervises the Technical Department. In the SBU, he has the nickname "Poroshenko's ears". He got this nickname for informing on the SBU, including Hrytsak himself. He's urgently selling his family real estate, and preparing to move to Europe; he's now actively learning English for a new life abroad.
The Head of the National Sovereignty Protection Department, Brigadier General Daniil Dotsenko. He visited the village of Loo on the Black Sea shore in Krasnodar Krai with his family many times, where the relatives of his wife Elena own real estate.
These are just some of the examples. The Security Service of Ukraine has rotten and blemished itself with corruption. Everyone knows that. The next weeks will show how reliable it is for Poroshenko. Anyway, those who know the real situation in the country better than others don't plan their future in it, as it is seen.
