Ihor Rainin, once the head of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s administration, has been elected chairman of the Kharkiv Oblast chamber of the Opposition Platform — For Life, a pro-Russian party led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a relative of President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
The appointment took place on Nov. 27 at the party’s regional office in Kharkiv and was confirmed later in the day by Rainin in correspondence with journalists.
Video footage from the meeting published by the Kharkiv Today media outlet shows Rainin expressing thanks to one of the Opposition Platform leaders Yuriy Boiko and saying he intends to lead the party in local elections.
During the meeting, Boiko told attendees Rainin had been “with the Opposition Platform since long ago, but “it was something that should not be spoken about.”
“When (Rainin) was in corridors of power and occupied the office of Presidential Administration’s head, he tried to leave several times, but we urged him to stay,” Boiko said.
“Because he was the only one in that group of Galicians to uphold the interests of Eastern Ukraine. Together with us, he defended Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk in the darkest time, and did not allow humiliating us conclusively. It was very hard for him when we had nationalistic authorities.”
Originally from Kharkiv, in 2014-2015 Rainin chaired the local chamber of the Petro Poroshenko block. In 2014 he also served as the deputy head of the Presidential Administration in Kyiv and in 2016 was appointed to run Poroshenko’s office, where he remained until the end of Poroshenko’s presidency in 2019.
The politician did not immediately offer an explanation regarding why he decided to abruptly switch from being a long-time member of Poroshenko’s team to becoming a senior member of a party that openly advocates pro-Kremlin sentiments and opposes Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration.
In his recent interview with the Strana.ua media outlet, Rainin, however, asserted he had disagreements with Poroshenko over his policy towards Ukraine’s predominantly Russian-speaking southeastern oblasts.
“The whole state policy and campaign was based on deminishing the role and the importance of the southeast,” Strana.ua quoted him as saying on Nov. 24.
“This is a painful issue to me. I was born and grew up in Kharkiv. I feel and understand my fellow countrypeople very well. I could not accept such ideologic tactics.”
At the same time, he told the media outlet he sees peace in Ukraine as a prerequisite to the country’s “political future.”
“And in this regard, Opposition Platform — For Life has the clearest and the most consistent position, and I do not hesitate to say this. They say and do a lot for peace. Even though quite enough labels were pinned on the party.”
