In Ukraine, detained suspects of involvement in the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet. On Thursday, December 12, in his Twitter wrote the Minister of Internal Affairs of the country Arsen Avakov.
Recall that Sheremet died on July 20, 2016 as a result of the operation of an explosive device, which was under the bottom of the car of his common-law wife Alena Pritula.
“The National Police has just detained and, with the consent of the GPU, declares reasonable suspicions of the persons involved in the murder of Pavel Sheremet. This is the result of the very difficult and hard work of real experts and an important step towards the full disclosure of the case! ”Avakov said.
At the same time, Ukrainian rock musician Andrei Antonenko, known under the pseudonym Riffmaster, on his Facebook page said that he was charged with the murder of Sheremet.
According to the Internet publication Strana.UA, Antonenko is a sergeant of the special operations forces of Ukraine and author of the anthem of this unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, he participated in hostilities in the Donbass. At the same time, the leader of the radical nationalist group C14 Yevgeny Karas came out in his defense, whom in January 2019 the Moscow Basmanny court detained in absentia in the case of an attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev in 2016.
In turn, the deputy from the European Solidarity faction Vladimir Aryev called Antonenko’s detention "targeted repressions against the defenders of Ukraine."
In addition, it became known about the detention of volunteers Yulia Kuzmenko and Petr Kiyan. According to Strana.UA, they may also be involved in the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet.
“There is another question - who is the customer?”
Later, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov and the deputy head of the National Police - the head of the criminal police Evgeny Koval held a briefing. attended by President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and Attorney General Ruslan Ryaboshapka.
During the opening remarks, Avakova stated that the materials of the investigation “are not only sensational, but also shocking”. According to him, the suspects are famous people.
“Society must understand the border between patriotism and betrayal,” Avakov said.
- Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov
- globallookpress.com
- © Danil Shamkin / ZUMAPRESS.com
Then a report was made by Eugene Koval. To begin with, he said that among the four versions of the murder examined, the investigation focused on one - the murder with the aim of socio-political destabilization of the situation in Ukraine through the murder of a famous person.
He also talked about a group that was involved in the murder of Sheremet. Five people entered it: Antonenko, Kuzmenko, Yana Dugar, as well as Inna Grishchenko (Puma) and Vadim Grishchenko (Bucha).
Audio and video recordings were shown, on the basis of which the investigation charged them with the murder of Pavel Sheremet.
In turn, Vladimir Zelensky thanked law enforcement officers for the work done. The Ukrainian leader emphasized that now it is necessary to establish who is the customer of the crime.
“The alleged killers were detained. We got a lot of answers. There is one more question - who is the customer? I hope it will be next time at the third meeting on the murder of Sheremet, ”said the President of Ukraine.
“There is no guarantee that Avakov is telling the truth”
According to the Ukrainian political scientist and economist Oleksandr Dudchak, it is still difficult to talk about whether the detainees are really involved in the murder of the journalist.
“There are no guarantees that they found those people who committed the crime, no. In this case, there is no guarantee that Avakov is telling the truth and that these are not just some appointed people, and there is no guarantee that in the future we won’t know that this was the next operation to give the audience good news. Nothing can be guaranteed here. This political circus is replete with such dramatizations, ”the source said.
Recall that on May 29, 2018, information appeared about the murder of the opposition Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, he was shot dead on the threshold of his apartment with several shots in the back. Immediately after that, Moscow was accused in Kiev of involvement in the murder of a journalist who was "not forgiven for honesty and integrity." However, a day later, the SBU said that the incident was a staging as part of a special operation to "expose Russian spies and mercenaries," allegedly planning to organize a series of terrorist attacks and contract killings in Ukraine.
In turn, the director of the Institute of Contemporary State Development, Dmitry Solonnikov, noted that Ukraine now has the opportunity to investigate a number of political cases, since the regime and political agenda have changed.
“The question is not how much time has passed since the murder, but how legitimate the prosecution is and what is the evidence base. On the other hand, the situation is twofold. Since Avakov remained from the previous regime, there is little trust in him. Personally, he is one of the people who are responsible for the regime of Petro Poroshenko. On the other hand, trust in the team assembled by Zelensky is quite high, ”the expert stressed in an interview with RT.