As President Petro Poroshenko was giving an address at the University of Zurich on Jan. 19, his speech was suddenly interrupted. A woman from the audience yelled at him.
“I don’t want to sit with someone in this room who’s killing children!” the woman shouted in English.
Poroshenko attempted to go on with his speech, replying, “Thank you very much indeed.” But the audience of several hundred people started talking and booing, seemingly aimed at the woman.
The heckler then revealed to herself to be Russian-speaking as she was heard screaming “suka blyad,” Russian curse words which can be roughly translated as “bitch, f*ck”.
Poroshenko reacted with laughter.
President Petro Poroshenko faces a heckler in Switzerland on Jan. 19.
“If anyone (can) understand what she said – this is exactly the cultural level of this lady,” he said, pointing in the woman’s direction.
The audience then shouted some encouragement to Poroshenko. He thanked them and continued with the lecture.
The incident has since received broad coverage in Russian media and blogs, who reported on Jan. 20 that the Ukrainian president got booed by the Swiss students. The reports offered videos that were cut to make it look like the audience’s rowdy reaction to the woman’s outburst was meant for Poroshenko.
In his Zurich lecture, Poroshenko spoke about the Western values and the support that Ukraine needs from international community to withstand Russian aggression. He described himself as “a president of peace, not a president of war.” The photos released by Poroshenko’s press service showed there were several people in the audience wearing or holding Ukrainian flags and traditional flower wreaths.
Poroshenko arrived to Switzerland on Jan. 19. After the lecture in the University of Zurich he will participate in the World Economic Forum that begins on Jan. 21 in Davos.
Kyiv Post lifestyle editor Olga Rudenko can be reached at rudenko@kyivpost.com.
