Border crossings and passport control lines could be interesting places in Ukraine nowadays, with all the possible comings and goings in the nation’s upheaval.
Possibly
on the way out (if they aren’t already in Russia or some other country):
Ex-President Viktor Yanukovych;
Ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka;
Ex-Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko;
Ex-presidential chief of staff Andriy Klyuyev;
Ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka;
Ex-head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Oleksandr Yakymenko;
Ex-Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s troop commander Stanislav Shuliak; and
possibly as many as 50 other suspects charged with the mass murders of 90 protesters since the start of EuroMaidan demonstrations in Kyiv since Nov. 21.
But as those officials presumably run for the border, many of their political enemies are making it back into Ukraine.
Here’s a list of those former political emigrees who are planning to coming back in or who have already returned:
Sergiy
Koba, AutoMaidan activist
Sergiy Koba fled Ukraine in January after a criminal
case was opened against him. He has already returned to Ukraine, as
combative as ever. On Feb. 24, he appeared on the EuroMaidan stage saying that
AutoMaidan would always support the families of those demonstrators killed by police. “I also claim that we will demand early parliament and local parliaments
elections. Everyone who thinks that he will earn money by coming into politics
is wrong. From now, AutoMaidan is in opposition to the current government,”
Koba said.
Dmytro Bulatov, AutoMaidan leader
Dmytro Bulatov, a leader of AutoMaidan, came back to Ukraine on Feb. 25. He
met with opposition leaders in Berlin on Feb. 17, after being sent abroad for medial treatment after he was kidnapped, held for eight days and tortured in captivity.
His name was removed from an Interior Ministry “wanted” database on the same
day, the main obstacle preventing Bulatov from coming to Ukraine.
“I’m very glad
that I’ve landed on native soil. I’m very upset that the victory was achieved at a cost of many human lives. I’m back in the
ranks and continue to work for civil society,” Bulatov wrote on his
Facebook page.
Borys Filatov, Dnipropetrovsk businessman
Borys
Filatov, a Dnipropetrovsk businessman accused of supporting EuroMaidan, went to
Israel with his business partner Hennadiy Korban. Filatov returned on Feb. 24
to Kyiv.
“I am
home. It’s time for me to work” Filatov wrote on his Facebook page. “On the flight back from Israel, we were accompanied by Olena
Vasilchenko, the head of the UDAR (Vitali Klitschko’s Ukrainian
Democratic Alliance for Reforms) organization in Dnipropetrovsk
Oblast, who also hid from arrest,” Filatov said.
But not
all of the EuroMaidan activists are back yet.
Oleksandr Danyliuk, leader of Spilna Sprava
Oleksandr
Danyliuk, the head of the militant Spilna Sprava group – which specialized in
taking over government buildings – fled to Great Britain with his wife, a
United Kingdom citizen, after police under the Yanukovych administration put
him on the wanted list.
Danyliuk
said the new politicians in power – opposition leaders until Feb. 22 – still pose
a threat to him.
“The danger remains, the criminal case against me
still has not been closed. The order to take me into custody remains valid,” Danyliuk said. He said his
organization would not take part in the upcoming presidential election on May
25,since “our task is to
build civil society and to
disable bureaucratic feudalism, not to replenish the ranks of the feudals.”
Mykhailo Pozhyvanov, former Tymoshenko government official
Mykhailo Pozhyvanov, the former official in Yulia Tymoshenko’s
government who was accused in embezzling more than $3 million, told the Kyiv Post that there is nothing to stop him from returning to Ukraine.
“The only problem is my rehabilitation after surgery on the left shoulder. I’m having an X-ray check-up scheduled on March 3 this year, after that I’ll decide on the return date, but not later than April,” Pozhyvanov said.
Inna Shevchenko, FEMEN activist
Inna
Shevchenko, a member of exhibitionist feminist protest group FEMEN, said that she is very proud
for Ukrainians, who finally made their revolution.
“But I am concerned about the future of Ukraine
even more now “, she added.
“I was very confused by the
activation of nationalist movements. The active nationalist
groups and religious institutions are as much a danger to me personally as the
Yanukovych regime”, explained
Shevchenko. “I will definitely return, but not now.” She also
said that she is planning to return to Ukraine not as a political activist, but
as politician.
Denys
Oleinikov, Ukrainian businessman
Denys Oleinikov, the owner of ProstoPrint company that
produced t-shirts mocking Yanukovych in 2011, got threatened with arrest under the previous administratoin and fled the country with his family to Croatia. Oleinikov said that the case hasn’t been closed yet.
“I am still on the Ukrainian wanted list,” Oleinikov said. “I’ve lived abroad for three years. This is 10 percent of my life – and
nearly half of the life of my youngest son. We are well-off financially and socially,” said Oleinkov in a statement on Facebook. “I am not a member of Maidan 2014 and will not use its benefits to close my
case. I’ll try to have my case closed, to regain my Ukrainian passport and will demand punishment for perpetrators who destroyed my business and upon whether I achieve that or not, I’ll think
about returning.”
Bohdan Danylyshyn, former economy minister in Tymoshenko’s government
Bohdan Danylyshyn, a former economy minister in Tymoshenko’s government, was charged with fraud, then fled the country in 2010 and found political asylum
in the Czech Republic. “Today I find it safe return to Ukraine,” he told the Kyiv Post. “In the near future, I think I will come back. Moreover, I will take a group of Ukrainian experts with me who have modern European educations, work in international
companies and are willing to work for Ukraine.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Iryna Yeroshko can be reached at [email protected]
