Ukraine: eight political figures stripped of their nationality by presidential decree
President Volodymyr Zelensky in a photo published by the Ukrainian presidential press service on July 23, 2022. AFP - STR
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Has Volodymyr Zelensky decided to clean up the world of Ukrainian oligarchs and elites? For several days, a presidential decree has been circulating, according to which a certain number of political and business figures have had their Ukrainian nationality withdrawn.
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This week, former journalist Serhiy Leshchenko, now an adviser to the president, published a curiously unsigned presidential decree on his Twitter account, which indicates that eight political figures have had their Ukrainian citizenship revoked, reports our correspondent in Kyiv,
Stéphane Siohan
. .
Among these names, one in particular stands out: the oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.
The man, one of the three richest in Ukraine, is the sulphurous owner of 1+1, the private television on which Zelensky has become a star of the small screen.
He supported and financed the race for the presidency of the former comedian.
In the list, we also find Vadym Rabinovitch, one of the former bosses of the pro-Russian party.
Or Gennady Korban, a local boss from the city of Dnipro, long allied with Ihor Kolomoisky.
The particularity of these men is that almost all of them have Israeli passports, while dual citizenship is prohibited by Ukrainian law.
No comment from the presidency
For the moment, the Ukrainian presidency refuses to comment, and Ihor Kolomoisky does not respond to calls from journalists.
Only, this Saturday, the businessman Gennady Korban was arrested at the border between Poland and Ukraine, the customs officers did not let him enter his country.
In any case, these forfeitures of nationality surprise many political observers.
“
There is no way, respecting Ukrainian law, to deprive people of their citizenship.
It's just not possible,
says political scientist Maria Zolkyna of the Ukrainian Research Center of the Foundation for Democratic Initiatives.
It's against the Constitution, and it's against citizenship law.
For now, whatever the media, the expert communities, the opposition to Zelensky, the general reaction remains very negative.
But no one actively opposes this political action because everyone is busy fighting Russia
.”
We do not yet know the reasons that would have pushed Zelensky to withdraw nationality from these men, but if it were true, it would mean that Zelensky has decided to emancipate himself from the oligarch-brigand who made him king.
► To read also: The first lady Olena Zelenska, new voice of Ukraine abroad
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Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky