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Ukrainian state agencies turn into ‘media killers’ for Poroshenko’s opponents, expert says

Ruslan Bortnik noted that SBU was targeting Batkivshchina party head Yulia Timoshenko, while the National Anti-Corruption Agency is after the most popular presidential candidate Vladimir Zelensky

© Zurab Dzhavakhadze/TASS

KIEV, March 27. /TASS/. Ukrainian state agencies have turned into "media killers" for incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko’s opponents during the current election campaign, Head of the Ukrainian Institute for Analysis and Political Management Ruslan Bortnik wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

"It’s too bad that state agencies have turned into media killers for the incumbent president’s key opponents," he said.

To prove his point, the expert noted that Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko had actually accused one of Poroshenko’s rivals, leader of the Civil Initiative party Anatoly Gritsenko, "of stealing the army’s funds." Besides, in his words, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) "is targeting leader of the Batkivshchina party Yulia Timoshenko, while the National Anti-Corruption Agency is after the most popular presidential candidate Vladimir Zelensky. "In addition, there is the NABU [National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine] and the SAPO [Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office]," Bortnik added.

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Poroshenko may run for parliamentary seat if he loses presidential bid, predicts expert

He pointed out that all of those activities "end in nothing from the legal standpoint but create media-hype. "As a result, these state agencies discredit themselves in the eyes of the Ukrainian people… and they will have to be radically reformed," the expert concluded.

Ukrainian presidential election

The Ukrainian presidential election is scheduled to take place on March 31. According to opinion polls, comedian Vladimir Zelensky leads the race, as over 32% of voters are ready to cast their ballots in his favor, followed by incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko (17.1%), leader of the Batkivshchina party Yulia Timoshenko (12.5%) and leader of the Civil Position Party Anatoly Gritsenko (6.9%). There will be a total of 39 candidates on the ballot.

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Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko

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