Ukraine: MP in pre-trial detention charged with high treason for Moscow
A Kyiv court has decided to remand Oleksandr Dubinsky on suspicion of high treason. The State Investigation Bureau accuses him of working to "deteriorate" Kiev's relations with Washington, its closest ally. Oleksandr Dubinsky was elected to parliament in 2019 on the list of President Volodymyr Zelensky's party before being expelled from his parliamentary group following the announcement of US sanctions.
A prison corridor in the center of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, February 1, 2021. (Illustration photo) © AFP - SERGEI SUPINSKY
By: RFI Follow
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With our correspondent in Kiev, Pierre Alonso
Codename: "Buratino", named after this character from classic Russian literature, who is the equivalent of Pinocchio. Oleksandr Dubinsky, his real name, used the pseudonym to communicate with Russian military intelligence, according to Ukraine's investigative services.
The 42-year-old, who was elected as a member of parliament for the Servant of the People party in 2019, is charged with high treason. Russia is said to have tasked him with "discrediting Ukraine's image on the international scene" and curbing its membership in NATO and the European Union. In short: to keep Kiev under the influence of Moscow, which has allocated $10 million to this mission, according to the investigation.
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Better late than never!" said Darya Kaleniuk of the Anti-Corruption Centre. This civil society organization had sounded the alarm as early as 2020 on the Dubinsky case.
The mobilization convinced Washington to sanction the elected official in January 2021 for his membership in a network linked to Russia. An American blacklist that led to his expulsion from the party founded by Volodymyr Zelensky. But it took three years, and a war, for the justice system to take an interest in him.
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