The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Cherkasy has filed a lawsuit against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the president called him a “bandit” earlier this month during a dispute over quarantine measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the mayor’s lawyer said in a video published on May 27.
Zelensky made the remark on May 20 during a press conference, claiming that there are 19 criminal proceedings against Bondarenko.
In the suit, Bondarenko asked the court for Hr 1 ($0.04) in compensation from Zelensky for damaging his honor, dignity and business reputation.
“We will see the president of Ukraine in court,” Bondarenko’s lawyer, Denys Tsypin said in the video, as he stood outside of the Pechersk District Court in Kyiv.
The lawsuit is another twist in the feud between Bondarenko and Zelensky that began after Cherkasy, a provincial capital of 279,000 people located nearly 200 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, failed to enforce quarantine restrictions imposed by the national government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conflict started when the Cherkasy City Council voted to lift some of the restrictions in the city starting from May 1, 10 days before the national government allowed the first stage of easing quarantine.
The local authorities’ decision allowed small and medium businesses to resume operations and parks to reopen to the public when a strict lockdown was still in force throughout the country.
The central government criticized the move and Zelensky said that there would be legal consequences.
Soon after that, law enforcement opened a criminal case against the Cherkasy authorities. And in less than a week, the city’s court suspended the council’s decision.
During a press conference on May 20, Zelensky called Bondarenko a “bandit” and said he wouldn’t sit at the same table with him.
“He was elected,” Zelensky said. “This is the right of the people of Ukraine. Please choose bandits if you want to,” he added.
The president also called Bondarenko’s actions populistic. He asked rhetorically where Bondarenko had been two months earlier, at the beginning of the epidemic, and why he hadn’t reached out to ask how he could be helpful.
“I understand that it is difficult for everyone, difficult for all mayors,” Zelensky said. “But, excuse me, this is populism.”
In response to Zelensky’s remarks, Bondarenko said that the criminal proceedings the president mentioned had been opened against him on political grounds.
He also said that Zelensky and his party shouldn’t expect success in the local elections in Cherkasy in October.
“We are waiting for you, Mr. President,” Bondarenko said in a Facebook video published on May 20.
CORONAVIRUS IN UKRAINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- As of May 27: 644 people have died from the disease in Ukraine and 7,575 have recovered.
- 21,584 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine as of May 27. The first case was identified on March 3.
- Ukraine is set to enter the third stage of lifting quarantine on June 1.
- The country has been in the second stage since May 22.
- Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro subways reopened on May 25.
- Here’s what opened in Ukraine on May 12.
- How the Ukrainian government has been responding: TIMELINE
- Misinformation on coronavirus is viral in Ukraine.
- Where to buy masks.
- Why the Kyiv Post isn’t making its coverage free in the times of COVID-19.
- Coronavirus stops the Kyiv Post’s print edition for now.
Effects on the economy:
- COVID-19 is already inflicting harm on Ukraine’s economy.
- The former minister of economy says half a million Ukrainians may lose their jobs in the COVID-19 crisis.
