By Marcel Gascón
Kyiv, July 3 (EFE).- The unity that Ukrainians showed in the early months of the war is fracturing as rivalries between key political figures emerge.
The fiercest clash is between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and opposition leader Petro Poroshenko, who this week accused the president of acting like the Kremlin to “eliminate any competitor from the political landscape,” in an interview with The Times of London.
In February, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council sanctioned Poroshenko along with other oligarchs, some openly aligned with Russia, for allegedly obstructing the country’s sustainable economic development.
Without naming Poroshenko, Zelenskyy later said the sanctions target those who laundered large sums and siphoned “billions of hryvnias” from Ukraine over the past decade.
He hinted that Poroshenko’s generous donations to the army since the war began could be a cover for laundering.
“I can’t buy coffee at a gas station because my cards are blocked, my accounts are frozen, and my assets seized,” said Poroshenko, known as the “chocolate king” for his confectionery empire.
He argued that the sanctions against him, as Ukraine’s main opposition figure, harm the country’s international image.
Political persecution or anti-corruption drive?
Poroshenko’s allies call the measures a political persecution, accusing Zelenskyy of using martial law powers to build an authoritarian, personalist regime.
Zelenskyy’s supporters say the crackdown on Poroshenko and other businessmen, described as oligarchs who enriched themselves through shady methods, is essential to limit their influence over politics, the economy, and sectors like energy and media.
Zelenskyy has distanced himself from oligarchs, including former backer Ihor Kolomoisky, who is now jailed awaiting trial for allegedly embezzling hundreds of millions of euros from his bank.
Critics warn Zelenskyy’s anti-oligarch policy risks concentrating too much power in the presidency, undermining Ukraine’s democracy.
Since independence from the USSR in 1991, competing billionaire clans have maintained a level of political plurality absent in Russia.
The ‘coal case’
Poroshenko’s most serious legal threat is the so-called coal case, in which he is accused of treason for authorizing coal purchases from the Moscow-backed separatist entities in eastern Ukraine, allegedly helping finance them.
Poroshenko claims this is another attempt by Zelenskyy to jail him. He blames the case on Andriy Portnov, a former legal adviser to Ukraine’s last pro-Russian president.
Portnov, killed in Spain on May 21, is said to have orchestrated the case.
Reports that Portnov met with senior Zelenskyy officials shortly before his death are seen by Poroshenko’s supporters as evidence of collusion between the slain lawyer and the current government. EFE
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