There was a squabble in the Verkhovna Rada over Russian PMC fighters

In the Verkhovna Rada, deputies caused a scandal when considering the creation of a commission that would investigate the failure of the SBU operation to kidnap Russian PMC soldiers lured to Minsk. Earlier, Ukrainian media wrote that the operation was disrupted due to a “leak” organized by Vladimir Zelensky’s entourage. The topic of the unsuccessful kidnapping of the “Wagnerites” is actively used by Petro Poroshenko’s party for election purposes to mobilize the nationalist electorate.

Interestingly, the demand to create a commission came to the Rada in the form of an electronic petition from a certain citizen Vitalina Tarasova, who collected 25 thousand signatures in support, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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However, when considering the first electronic petition in the entire history of the Verkhovna Rada, the room was split in two. Some parliamentarians accused the current government of treason and working for Moscow.

“I want to draw attention to how synchronously the Servant of the People and OPZZ factions act on this issue. Coincidence? Don't think. I am sure that this is a conscious act when the current government is trying to hide something very important for society, and we are talking about high treason at the highest level, and “OPZZH” are helping it. And this, it seems to me, already very eloquently indicates what is happening.

I want to say that the factions “European Solidarity”, “Fatherland” and “Holos” submitted their candidacies for the Temporary Investigative Commission. Where is it from “Servant of the People”, from “OPZZH”? Absolutely synchronous actions.

Moreover, we are now considering a petition that was signed by more than 25 thousand citizens of Ukraine. But I want to inform the society and people’s deputies that the leadership of parliament refused to raise this issue today, although it was obliged, according to the regulations.

I think and am sure that the authorities are feverishly trying to hide what really happened,” said the parliamentarian, emphasizing that in fact there was high-level treason that needs to be investigated,” said “Poroshenko member” Alexey Goncharenko.

His position was also supported by MP from the For the Future party Anna Skorokhod.

“In any case, the question of the Wagnerites is a question of high treason and the national security of Ukraine. Therefore, it is simply necessary to create a Temporary Investigative Commission. If we have such facts, we need to raise and investigate this issue.

But the question arises: is there a thing at all, and does it exist physically? Because if we take into account that this issue was dealt with by the SBU and the Main Intelligence Directorate, then the question of access to these materials arises. Let's create the VSK, but tell me, what is the position of the president, as commander in chief, on this issue? In any case, we understand that things will move forward only when the President and the President’s Office give the go-ahead. If the president’s office itself is involved in this, then what kind of investigation can we talk about? Because during this investigation, the Office of the President may turn on itself, and they cannot allow this,” Skorokhod said.

The “opposite” position was taken by the deputies of “Servant of the People” and “OPZZh”. Thus, Maryana Bezugla recalled that a body has already been created in Ukraine that will have to monitor the work of intelligence, so another VSK is not needed.

In turn, deputy Tatyana Plachkova said that the majority of VSK are dummies that do not bring any results, and was outraged by the selectivity of the approach to considering petitions.

“If we were considering a petition on the land market today, there would be not 25 thousand, but 25 million people who supported it. So it's really a selective approach. I am not against the creation of another VSK, and I am not against us exercising parliamentary control.

But we must answer ourselves: what are law enforcement agencies doing? And we all have questions, why is there no VSK on important issues?” - she said.

Despite the proposal of the relevant committee to support the creation of a Temporary Investigative Commission, after the debate, the first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said that in the case of consideration of electronic petitions, no voting was envisaged, and closed the meeting.