12:41 25.06.2021

Razumkov on Zelensky's statement in 'Wagner members' case: Rada's Commission of Inquiry will deal with issues of jurisdiction

3 min read
Razumkov on Zelensky's statement in 'Wagner members' case: Rada's Commission of Inquiry will deal with issues of jurisdiction

The Temporary Commission of Inquiry of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for investigating actions of officials and politicians against Ukraine's sovereignty will deal with all issues of its jurisdiction, including the investigation into the case of the probable disruption of the special operation to detain members of the (Russian Private Military Company) Wagner, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov has said.

"What I heard in an interview with the President, he said that he had spoken with Mr. Lukashenko. I think we need to ask when this conversation took place – before they were detained, or after that. This is not entirely clear from the interview. Regarding the Temporary Commission of Inquiry [on the investigation into actions of officials and politicians against Ukraine's sovereignty], it will deal with all the issues from that list related to the commission activities. I will not influence it, I try not to interfere with the work of the commission, and there are representatives of all factions and groups there. I hope its work will be unbiased," Razumkov said at a concluding press conference on Friday, answering the question whether the specialized Commission of Inquiry will deal with the President's actions regarding the "Wagner members" case, which he announced in his interview the day before.

As reported, on July 29, some 33 members of the Wagner PMC were detained near Minsk.

On August 12, the Prosecutor General's Office (Ukraine) applied to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Belarus with requests to extradite 28 people from the Russian Private Military Company Wagner.

The Ukrainian side said that these persons "took an active part in hostilities on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of the terrorist organizations 'LPR' and 'DPR (Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples' Republics')."

However, on August 14 it became known that Belarus handed over to Russia 32 of the 33 detained Wagner members.

On August 18, a number of Ukrainian media reported that SBI and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense were preparing an operation to detain members of the Wagner PMC. According to the media, they were supposed to fly from Minsk to Istanbul, but during the flight one of the passengers had to simulate deterioration in health, as a result of which the plane had to make an emergency landing in Kyiv, where the Wagner members were to be detained.

The media claimed that the operation was reported to President Volodymyr Zelensky and Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak, after which, as a result of a leak, the Belarusian special services learned about it.

The information was denied by the authorities.

As reported, on May 19, 2021, the Ukrainian parliament created the Temporary Commission of Inquiry to investigate possible crimes of representatives of state authorities that contributed to the violation of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but the opposition factions Holos, Batkivschyna, and European Solidarity did not provide their representatives.

In an interview with Natalia Moseichuk on the 1+1 TV channel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied the involvement of Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak in disrupting the so-called operation to detain Wagner members, calling the idea of such an operation an idea of other countries.

 

AD
AD
AD
AD
AD