In May, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) imposed sanctions on 557 crime bosses, known in Ukraine as “thieves in law.”
On Oct. 15, it turned out that nearly a fifth of that list, or 108 people, had been sanctioned “by mistake.”
“We have corrected mistakes that have occurred in our previous decisions,” said Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov during the Oct. 15 press briefing.
He added that eight Interior Ministry officials, who had been involved in compiling the list, had either been fired or demoted.
Now, the President’s Office will check if the mistake was intentional, said Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, on Oct. 16.
Danilov’s comments proved earlier suspicions by activists and opposition lawmakers about some of the people on the list.
The incident caused a wave of criticism among many experts and state officials.
According to lawmaker Oleksandra Ustinova, representing the 20-member Voice faction, ex-Interior Minister Arsen Avakov is directly responsible for this debacle, which she believes was intentional.
Avakov, the country’s longest-serving minister, resigned on July 13. During his seven-year reign, Avakov was alleged of corruption, abuse of office and stalling of crucial reforms. Avakov denied wrongdoing.
Read More: Is Arsen Avakov invincible?
Ustinova first raised concerns about the people sanctioned, as part of the crime bosses list, in early July.
According to Ustinova, some people ended up under sanctions as part of a plot by Russia’s FSB security service. Russian citizens sanctioned by Ukraine would have a better chance of being deported back to Russia, according to Ustinova.
“Now they will be able to live in peace with their families in Ukraine,” wrote Ustinova. “Those who did (the mistake) must be imprisoned.” Ustinova also mentioned business competition as a potential reason for the wrongful sanctions.
Viktor Trepak, former deputy head of Ukraine’s Security Service, believes that such mistakes made by the state authorities point to “huge problems in the functioning of the state, as well as the political arbitrary decision making that becomes the new normal.”
“It is an extraordinary event that must have serious legal and political consequences,” wrote Trepak on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Podoliak said it’s too early to draw conclusions about the work of the Security Council. Podoliak told DW to “avoid speculative assessments of certain sanction decisions.”
