Former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is convinced that he and his party "European Solidarity" saved the country.

The ex-head of state said this at a meeting with residents of Ternopil.

“In the most difficult moments of 2014, our team saved the country, stopped the aggressor, laid the foundation for Ukrainian statehood.

What we call the army, language, faith, is the real Ukrainian statehood.

For a year and a half in opposition, we have shown ourselves as a serious and responsible, competent and professional force, which, relying on the active support of the patriotic part of society, stopped many anti-Ukrainian, and sometimes just stupid and amateurish initiatives, "Poroshenko said.

The ex-president of Ukraine stressed that the European Solidarity party has a history that, according to him, can be proud of, and that it is the only political force that upholds Ukraine's course towards European integration, and also hinders the country's movement into the "sphere of Russian influence."

However, the position of Poroshenko regarding his role in the fate of the country is not shared by all Ukrainian politicians.

The day before, the head of the Kiev delegation to the trilateral contact group on Donbass and the first president of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, said that now the current authorities "have to rake up what they have done" Poroshenko and his party.

“For example, the European Solidarity faction, which has privatized patriotism and believes that only they are patriots, and all the rest are enemies.

We now have to clean up what they have done.

And today they are already teachers and tell you how to do it.

Why didn't they do anything serious to establish peace in five years in power? "

- said Kravchuk in an interview with the "STRANA.ua" edition.

It should be noted that regional elections will be held in Ukraine on October 25.

At the same time, the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions not controlled by Kiev will not take part in the voting.

"One of the worst politicians"

Political scientist Oleg Matveychev, professor at the Higher School of Economics, called Poroshenko's new statements "the usual propaganda and pre-election hype, which he used both during his presidency and when he ran for a new term."

“In reality, Poroshenko's rule threw Ukraine back in terms of economic development for many years.

Many Ukrainians fled to Europe and are mainly engaged in dirty work there.

There is absolutely nothing to brag about here.

And the country continues to be destroyed further, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

  • Woman feeding pigeons, Kiev, October 3, 2017

  • Reuters

  • © Valentyn Ogirenko

A similar opinion was expressed by Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University.

According to him, Petro Poroshenko "is trying to mobilize his own electorate with his absurd statements."

“He wants to establish himself in the eyes of voters as the only significant opponent of the current government.

At the same time, Poroshenko, apparently, counts on the short memory of his voters.

After all, his rating at the end of the presidential term was minimal.

And the vote for Zelensky was typically protest in nature.

Ukrainian voters, who drank more than Poroshenko, voted not so much for Volodymyr Zelensky as against Poroshenko and his policies, ”the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

According to Shapovalov, Petro Poroshenko "will go down in the history of Ukraine as one of the worst politicians."

“After all, he could not or did not want to fulfill any pre-election promise.

He promised to end the war in Donbass, but instead only exacerbated the conflict, which led to severe disaster.

Poroshenko is in fact a war criminal who is responsible for the killings of civilians in southeastern Ukraine that have occurred throughout his presidency.

Poroshenko is guilty of the impoverishment of the people - the economy was destroyed by his hands, ”the expert stated.

We will remind, according to the IMF report published in May 2019, Ukraine remains one of the poorest European countries.

According to the analytical company Growth from Knowledge, Ukraine is also in last place in the ranking of 42 European countries, based on the purchasing power of the population.

Poroshenko's rule did not positively affect the settlement of the situation in Donbass.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, published in October 2019, over the years of the conflict, more than 3.3 thousand civilians were killed, about 9 thousand people were injured, and 1.3 million citizens in need of assistance became internally displaced persons - 3.5 million

Now, "Poroshenko wants to cover up ill-conceived and often deliberately criminal actions with his attempts to call black white," Shapovalov said.

“He intends to evade responsibility, criminal prosecution, turn this shameful page, completely falsify the past.

If Poroshenko does end up behind bars sometime, I would not be surprised if he calls himself a political prisoner who has suffered not for crimes, corruption and theft, but for his convictions, ”the analyst said.

  • A woman removes rubbish in the courtyard of a residential building in Donetsk, damaged by shelling

  • RIA News

  • © Sergey Averin

Let us remind you that several dozen criminal cases have been initiated against the ex-president of Ukraine.

On September 11, Poroshenko's lawyer Igor Golovan told media representatives that the country's Security Service opened 15 new cases against the ex-head of state, including under the articles "Treason" and "Financing of terrorism".

This week, another lawyer for the former head of state, Ilya Novikov, told reporters that 58 criminal cases were being investigated against his client.

"Attempts will be unsuccessful"

According to Volodymyr Shapovalov, "the Ukrainian voter has suffered enough from Poroshenko, therefore he will not believe him again."

“The logic and strategy of Poroshenko's political campaign is that he is betting on the weaknesses of the administration of the current Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who for the most part did not live up to the expectations of the Ukrainians, becoming another disappointment for them.

Currently, Poroshenko seeks to accumulate the votes of all those dissatisfied with President Zelensky and his government, "the expert noted.

Oleg Matveychev also believes that Poroshenko and his party "have no chance of taking leading positions in the regions" of Ukraine after the local elections.

“They can collect some 3-5%.

The fact is that earlier Poroshenko could use the administrative resource, but now he cannot do it.

He left a bad memory of himself.

Before the elections, he can only repeat propaganda slogans, but no one will take them for granted.

The population's confidence in the former president and his party has been exhausted.

Poroshenko himself will remain a marginal politician who, in the end, will still face trial, ”the expert concluded.