On Dec. 22, protesters gathered in front of the president’s office building in downtown Kyiv to demand the resignation of Arsen Avakov, Ukraine’s longtime interior minister.
Avakov was appointed minister on Feb. 22, 2014, on the same day the EuroMaidan Revolution ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Avakov remained in his seat under President Petro Poroshenko, who took office in June 2014. After Poroshenko lost re-election, Avakov was one of the two ministers who kept their jobs under President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Avakov is a highly controversial figure, being accused of stalling investigations of attacks on activists, corruption and sabotage of crucial reforms.
In 2017 Avakov’s son Oleksandr and Avakov’s ex-deputy Serhiy Chebotar were arrested and charged by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine with embezzling Hr 14 million ($550,000) by supplying overpriced backpacks to the Interior Ministry. They deny the accusations.
In 2018, anti-corruption prosecutors closed the case against Oleksandr Avakov and Chebotar. However, Security Service of Ukraine video footage has been published on the Internet, showing Oleksandr Avakov and Chebotar discussing a scheme to supply backpacks to the National Guard in Chebotar’s office.
The police under Avakov have also been lambasted for failing to investigate about a hundred attacks on activists and journalists since 2014, including at least 12 murders.
Among these was the murder of Kateryna Gandziuk, an outspoken regional activist, who was attacked with acid in July 2018 after exposing corruption among top local officials and the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet, assassinated in downtown Kyiv, in July 2016.
