Moldova
In Moldova, the attempt to usurp power by the Democratic party of Moldova (PDM), headed by oligarch Vladimir Plakhotnyuk failed. On June 14th, the “Interim” President Paul Philip announced the resignation of the illegitimate government and made for the elected government of Prime Minister Maia Sandu and President Igor Dodon.
Oligarch Vladimir Plakhotnyuk – middle. Click to see full-size image
“Given the need to unblock the crisis that the country is going through, the Democratic party has decided to retreat from power by having the government resign,” the party said in a statement.
In an address on June 14th, Dodon described the DPM resignation as a “symbolic but extremely important victory.”
He also called on the Constitutional Court to amend its ruling — warning that he would ask parliament to replace the court’s judges if it failed to do so. He further called for the chief prosecutor and the head of the anti-corruption body both resign.
Prime Minister Maia Sandu welcomed DPM’s resignation on Facebook but said that “abusive actions” including the “blockade of state institutions and blackmail of citizens” as well as “the use of a paramilitary structure to create fear” by Plakhotnyuk and his followers “will not remain unpunished.”
To attempt and escape punishment, Plakhotnyuk fled the country, as confirmed by a DPM statement. According to it, the oligarch “left the country for a few days.”
According to the service Flightradar24, a few private planes hastily left Moldova: the aircraft Bombardier CRJ-200LR flew to Moscow, Gulfstream G200 landed in Odessa, and a third business jet in London.
It is unlikely that he flew to Moscow, since he has a criminal case waiting for him in Russia in relation to organized crime and withdrawal of 37 billion rubles from the country.
According to Moldovan outlet TV 8, he likely fled to Ukraine’s Odessa. But it was also unclear whether he even boarded a plane, since tv8 said that he may have fled by car and the private jets were simply a diversion.
Whether any other moves would be undertaken by the oligarch is unknown, but also unlikely.
The flight on which Plakhotnyuk potentially fled. Click to see full-size image
Ukraine
As part of the snap general election campaign, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Mariupol on June 15th.
Most notably, he said the weather was too hot and ran through a fountain taking an impromptu shower. Other than that, he repeated the usual rhetoric long-spoke by former president Petro Poroshenko. June 15th was the 5th anniversary of Mariupol’s “liberation” from “Russian-backed separatists.”
Zelensky attended joint military exercises and was on hand for the opening of a demining center.
“We must now thoroughly redistribute the maximum of our attention to the Donbas,” Zelensky said.
“This is our land, our territory, and we want people from the other side, in the temporarily occupied territories, to see that Ukraine is flourishing here,” he said.
Commenters of the YouTube video considered Zelensky’s behavior inappropriate for the status of president and noted that Zelensky did not solve a whole range of problems of Ukraine in foreign and domestic policy with its mileage. But, it doesn’t quite make Ukraine’s political reputation much worse either, since Poroshenko wasn’t exactly an adequate head of state either.
As some experts believed, Zelensky after his election is essentially doing the same thing as when he was an actor: he meets people, publishes photos on social networks, and plays in public in every possible way.
Regardless, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is continuing hearings on whether Zelensky’s decision to dissolve the Parliament was legal.
Following his May 21st decree, on May 24th, officials from the Popular Front faction filed a motion with the Constitutional Court, requesting that the judges declare the decree on Parliament dissolution unconstitutional. On June 11th, the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court began hearings in the case on the constitutionality of the presidential decree. The next plenary session is to take place on June 18th.
Zelensky further continued the replacements of various officials. On June 15th, he appointed the first deputy head of the Poltava Regional State Administration (RSA) Oleh Pruhlo as acting head of the Poltava RSA. The deputy head of the Odesa Regional State Administration was appointed acting head of the Odesa RSA.
On June 11th, the Ukrainian president dismissed Serhiy Parashchenko from the post of acting head of the Odesa RSA and Roman Tovsty from that of acting head of the Poltava RSA.
Furthermore, since it needs constant repeating, due to so little action being undertaken, Zelensky said that the sailors detained by Russia after the November 25th, 2018 incident south of the Kerch Strait would be “released soon.”
“We are confident that the steps we are taking now will soon give us the opportunity to return the sailors,” said Zelensky, reassuring that he has the situation “under control.”
Separately, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had been working together with the “international community” to impose more sanctions on Russia, in relation to the simplified procedure for issuing Russian passports to citizens of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
“The Kremlin regime and its puppets have launched a streamlined procedure of granting Russian citizenship for Ukrainians in the occupied territories of Donbas. An intentionally provocative act that Ukraine and the entire civilized world will never recognize. We are continuing to work on further sanctions against Russia,” Press Secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Kateryna Zelenko said.
Roman Lyagin, the former head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Central Election Commission was detained in Ukraine, according to Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko. He is charged with high treason for organizing a “pseudo-referendum.”
“Payback time always comes,” Lutsenko said.
The security situation acrsos the country still remains complicated. Sporadic firefights and artillery duels appear almost on a daily basis in the region of Donbass. Different security incidents also happen in other parts of Ukraine.
For example, on June 16, an explosion in downtown Kiev shook the city. A garage in the courtyard of a building exploded, destroying two more together with it. The cause of the explosion was unknown and there was no subsequent fire. The windows of the staircase and the apartments in the adjacent building were broken. There were no injuries.
Government-backed radicals from groups supporting the non-canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine continued hostile attempts to seize churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The most recent attempt took place in Luka-Meleshkivs’ka village, Vinnica Oblast. The attempt was backed up by members of local council. Nonetheless, the people of the church repelled this attempt, at least by now.
A previous attempt to seize a canonical cuhrch took place in the village of Novaya Moshanica, Rivne Oblast. supporters of the OCU attacked home of a local priest of the Russian Orthodox Church. Pro-OCU radicals reportedly beat the priest and attempted to expel him from the village.
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Combine events in Moldova and Ukraine and no doubt the Comedian, running the show in Ukraine, will offer the Moldova oligarch a position in Odessa. Don’t failed oligarchs flock to Odessa, as Saakashvili so comes to mind?
‘On June 11th, the Ukrainian president dismissed Serhiy Parashchenko from the post of acting head of the Odesa RSA and Roman Tovsty from that of acting head of the Poltava RSA…’
Great job, Moldova! Washington’s Moldovan puppets (Pavel Filip and oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc) ended up looking just as laughable as Juan Guano. It’s always wonderful to watch a color coup fail spectacularly.