Russia. Ilya Ponomariov reported the arrest of Vladislav Surkov

“Surkuf is under house arrest. The case has been related to the embezzlement of Donbass since 2014,” Ilya Bonomario said in a Facebook post. The opponent referred to his own sources in Russian intelligence. He noted that Putin dismissed Surkov from the position of chancellor in February 2020, but – as he put it – “Surkuf still knows the real situation in the pseudo-separatist republics of Donbass like no other, and has extensive contacts there. He is also close to Russian veterans of the Donbass”.

Ponomariov’s entry was published by the Ukrainian media, there are no reports of him in Russian agencies. The opponent indicated that he was “waiting for an official confirmation or denial of reports related to Surkov’s arrest.”

TVN24.pl report: Russia’s attack on Ukraine

Surkov was considered one of the strategic planners of Russia’s policy towards Ukraine, and for many years he was also considered the gray lenience of the Kremlin. In 2011-2013, Surkov served as Deputy Prime Minister in the Government of Russia. After leaving this position, he became the president’s advisor on cooperation with Abkhazia and South Ossetia – the pro-Russian separatist regions of Georgia. He was also responsible for cooperation with the CIS countries, which were established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as for policy towards Ukraine.

After the armed conflict broke out in the Donbass in 2014, Surkov represented the Russian side as the Kremlin’s envoy in talks to regulate the situation.

censor.net on the Ukrainian portal stated that, according to Surkov, contemporary Ukraine “does not exist”, but there is “Ukrainian”, which is a “mental disorder”. As Putin’s former adviser, censor.net, claimed, “the only way to support cooperation between Ukraine and Russia is to impose brotherly relations.”

Ilya Ponomariov is one of the most famous Russian dissidents. He was one of the leaders of the anti-government protests in Russia in 2011-2012. He was also the only deputy in the State Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament) to vote against the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014.

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