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Ex-Ukrainian president Poroshenko urges Zelensky’s opponents to unite

The ex-president vowed that the current authorities would get the punishment that they deserve and pointed to President Zelensky and businessman Igor Kolomoisky

Pyotr Poroshenko Anna Marchenko/TASS

Pyotr Poroshenko

© Anna Marchenko/TASS

January 17. /TASS/. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has called on all the opponents of incumbent head of state Vladimir Zelensky to unite in an address to his supporters on Monday as he returned to Kiev from overseas.

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"We are not here to protect Poroshenko. We are here to unite and protect Ukraine," said the former president, who is currently facing high treason charges. He pointed out that apart from his European Solidarity party, he also had the support of other political parties that are opposed the current Ukrainian government. "It’s crucial that other democratic political forces are standing by our side, which symbolizes our unity because we need to unite now and prove that a united Ukraine is strong," Poroshenko argued, asserting that "a strong Ukraine" is capable of "confronting" Russia.

The ex-president vowed that the current authorities would get the punishment that they deserve. In this regard, Poroshenko pointed to President Zelensky and businessman Igor Kolomoisky. "The likes of Zelensky and Kolomoisky were stealing tens of millions of dollars from our the pockets of taxpayers to build villas in London and Italy, while we were laying the foundations of our state. <...> And now, after coming to power, they are accusing us of high treason. They will be held accountable for that," Poroshenko insisted.

Poroshenko arrived in the Ukrainian capital from Warsaw on Monday morning. He told reporters before leaving Poland that he was not afraid of being arrested in his native country. Kiev’s Pechersky District Court is scheduled to hold a hearing on Monday to weigh an appeal for his arrest. The court confiscated the former president’s property on January 6. Poroshenko confirmed that he planned to attend the court hearing but expressed confidence that he would not be arrested because there were no legal reasons for that. However, in his words, if he is eventually arrested, it will harm incumbent President Vladimir Zelensky most of all.

The former president is a defendant in the case of Donbass coal supplies in 2014-2015. The case was opened based on the Ukrainian Criminal Code’s articles covering the financing of terrorism, high treason and the creation of a terrorist organization. If found guilty, Poroshenko may face up to 15 years in prison with or without the confiscation of his property. In December 2021, investigators tried to serve him with a subpoena, but the ex-president shrugged them off and flew to Turkey on the same day. Sources in his party said that their leader had departed "for a pre-planned diplomatic trip of Turkey and Poland".

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