When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
InterNations
Geopolitics

Ukraine Charges Its Former Leaders With The Ultimate Crime: Helping Russia

Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko has taken refuge in Poland after being accused of treason and cooperation with Russia. It’s a film we’ve seen before in Kyiv.

Photo of former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and his wife Maryna at a rally in Kyiv on Aug. 24

Former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and his wife Maryna in Kyiv on Aug. 24

Anna Akage


KYIV — Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who came to power in 2014 against the backdrop of an emerging war with Russia, has now been accused by Ukrainian authorities of treason — in the service of Russian interests.

Yes, the accusations sound fantastic, as Poroshenko was known for his nationalist stance and tough line against Moscow. Kyiv-based news website Livy Bereg reports that the Ukrainian Attorney General's Office has accused Poroshenko of blocking plans to buy coal from South Africa, thus reinforcing Russia's energy dependence during the difficult first months of the war.


Poroshenko, of course, has been in the opposition since losing his bid for reelection in 2019 to television star Volodymyr Zelensky. And Now Zelensky’s government is going after Poroshenko.

History repeats itself

It seems to be a pattern in Ukrainian politics — not simply accusing one’s predecessor of wrongdoing, but specifically crimes related to coal deals and Russia. Before Poroshenko, it was Yulia Tymoshenko, his main political opponent, who was prosecuted for similar accusations. Poroshenko, who has for the moment taken refuge in Poland, is also not the only ex-president of Ukraine on the run. At the beginning of the war with Russia, the fourth Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, fled the country.

The burgeoning political tradition for each new Ukrainian leader to discover Russian interest in his predecessors is looked at sideways by much of the population. Two sharp opinions — that Poroshenko is a traitor and that Zelensky is targeting him unjustly in order to raise his rating — are bound to add conflict to Ukrainian public life.

In this part of the world, history has a tendency to repeat

According to Zelensky’s Prosecutor General, after Russia seized parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Ukraine found itself on the brink of an energy crisis, and it was decided to buy coal on the world market, in particular from South Africa. However, Russia set out to thwart this plan to prevent Ukraine from becoming more energy independent. And soon after, according to the accusation, Poroshenko created artificial obstacles to the supply of coal from South Africa.

These contracts were eventually broken, leading to rolling blackouts. Illegal schemes were organized to supply coal from the temporarily occupied territories to Ukrainian state enterprises to bring Ukraine back into the orbit of Russian influence.

Photo of Ukraine's former President Viktor Yanukovych interviewed in Moscow

Ukraine's former President Viktor Yanukovych interviewed in Moscow

Serebryakov Dmitry/TASS/Zuma

A political case​

Poroshenko, who did not appear on Monday to face the accusation in court, has promised to return from Poland in early January. He denies the charges, which he blamed on the current government’s "fall in popularity, and the lack of opportunity to offer something to the society."

Poroshenko's lawyers call the case political and say that "the supply of coal at that time was the only solution that saved Ukraine, which ensured the energy security of the state".

Of course, all of this is playing out as the risk looms of another military conflict with Moscow. Russian daily Kommersant reports that the Kremlin will not pull back its troops from the border as long as NATO continues to bolster its presence in Ukraine. Yes, in this part of the world, history has a tendency to repeat itself.


You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Future

AI And War: Inside The Pentagon's $1.8 Billion Bet On Artificial Intelligence

Putting the latest AI breakthroughs at the service of national security raises major practical and ethical questions for the Pentagon.

Photo of a drone on the tarmac during a military exercise near Vícenice, in the Czech Republic

Drone on the tarmac during a military exercise near Vícenice, in the Czech Republic

Sarah Scoles

Number 4 Hamilton Place is a be-columned building in central London, home to the Royal Aeronautical Society and four floors of event space. In May, the early 20th-century Edwardian townhouse hosted a decidedly more modern meeting: Defense officials, contractors, and academics from around the world gathered to discuss the future of military air and space technology.

Things soon went awry. At that conference, Tucker Hamilton, chief of AI test and operations for the United States Air Force, seemed to describe a disturbing simulation in which an AI-enabled drone had been tasked with taking down missile sites. But when a human operator started interfering with that objective, he said, the drone killed its operator, and cut the communications system.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest