Floor

17.04.202427.05.2017

Of course, there have been contract killings before. They “ordered” politicians, officials, and bankers, but mainly because of money. But O. Elderberry didn’t have them. He has not worked recently - he left the Segodnya newspaper, but even when he worked for it, there is no doubt that he was not involved in the financing of the Anti-Maidan, nor in privatization, nor in the "LPR / DPR" - in nothing at all smelling bad of big money. It is therefore not surprising that they are clumsily trying to connect this murder with money.

“I’ll give you an example regarding the economic component,” said Vasily Vovk, head of the main investigative department of the SBU, on the ICTV channel. - You all know that Mr. Kalashnikov dealt with the financial issues of the Anti-Maidan. I will give an example that does not provide any grounds or reasons to say or establish something. But on the same day as Kalashnikov’s murder, his brother got into an accident. During the inspection of the car, 6 million hryvnia were found in it. I am not assessing the fact. But let’s still connect some threads and consider these issues in more detail. I think there is an economic component to each of these murders.”

The only problem is that the accident with a man named Kalashnikov did not happen on the same day as the murder of the ex-deputy from the Party of Regions, but in 2009. They actually found 6 million UAH in the car. And they weren’t brothers - they were just namesakes, Oleg Kalashnikov had no brothers, only a sister... But the desire to connect Buzina’s murder with money is easy to notice.

Who is looking for something in common between Buzina and Nemtsov?

Immediately after the incident, they began to draw a parallel between Oles Buzina and Boris Nemtsov. Both seem to be inconvenient for the authorities, staunch oppositionists, and at the same time people with charisma and to a certain extent popular. But B. Nemtsov is still a politician, and O. Buzin is definitely not. Politics is behind-the-scenes agreements, intrigues and compromises, and for the Ukrainian writer, the author of the scandalous book “The Ghoul Taras Shevchenko,” which, judging by the data from the Internet search engine Google, everyone now wants to read - maybe get acquainted with the work of O. Buzina or refresh in memory - such trifles were alien. He loved to surprise the public, and, moreover, was a fairly open person to politics. There is one more discrepancy. During a meeting with the press, which took place literally at the moment when O. Buzina was being killed in Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that within a few hours the investigative authorities had identified the perpetrators of the murder on the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge in Moscow. To some extent, it was a matter of honor for the Russian authorities to give quick answers in that situation. Probably, it should be a matter of honor for the Ukrainian law enforcement system to solve the murder of Oles Buzina. This was formally confirmed by the Minister of Internal Affairs:

“The daring murder of Oles Buzina in Kyiv is being investigated with all care by the best specialists in the criminal investigation department and the prosecutor’s office. Competently and with the involvement of all possible potential at the disposal of the police and other law enforcement agencies. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will definitely openly present the results of the investigation, which we hope will be effective. The same applies to the investigation into the murder of Oleg Kalashnikov,” said Arsen Avakov, head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

How can murder harm a country?

“The fact that a year after the Maidan they suddenly kill two people who have no influence on anything, who are left out of work and who are in opposition to the current government, suggests that the customer or customers are pursuing certain, rather non-standard and non-obvious goals,” says the political scientist Andrey Miselyuk, director of the Institute for Socio-Political Design “Dialogue”. - It looks like a provocation, destabilization - anything, but not politics. Very soon, at the Ukraine-EU summit, which will open in Kyiv on April 27, the Ukrainian authorities will have to answer uncomfortable questions from Europeans on the topic of “political terror” in the country. Kyiv can get out of this difficult situation with honor if investigators quickly identify at least the perpetrators, or better yet, the masterminds of both murders. Otherwise, the series of unmotivated violent deaths involving famous people may continue.”

By the way, there will undoubtedly be awkward questions. Immediately after the high-profile murder, a flurry of hatred swept across social networks, which some mistakenly confused with patriotism. Europe reacted quite differently. For example, Dunja Mijatović, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media called the incident a “terrible act” and said: “This murder must be immediately and fully investigated by the competent authorities. The Ukrainian authorities must devote all necessary resources to investigate all attacks on journalists.”

What is confusing about the “Russian trace” story?

Apart from Avakov’s statement, there was practically no news about the investigation into the murder from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. News came from other sources. For example, from Vladimir Fesenko, political scientist, head of the Penta Center for Applied Political Research. Shortly after the murder of O. Buzina, he reported that a letter had arrived in his mail from a certain organization called the “Ukrainian Insurgent Army.” This organization took responsibility for the murder of Oles Buzina, and at the same time Chechetov, Peklushenko, Melnik, Kalashnikov. That is, for all the high-profile political murders that have occurred recently. Previously, no one had heard of such an organization in modern Ukraine: the UPA is a phenomenon of the Second World War and the post-war years. “This statement confirms my version that radical Ukrainian nationalists will be declared as the perpetrators of the murder of Buzina and Kalashnikov,” the political scientist concluded. “This further strengthens my suspicion that the Russian special services are behind these people (although the direct perpetrators may not even suspect this),” Fesenko expressed his opinion on this matter.

Soon Markiyan Lubkivsky, Advisor to the Chairman of the SBU, confirmed: the UPA is a fake, there are Russianisms in the text of the letter sent to the political scientist. This of course doesn’t mean anything, but... In general, the “Russian trace”! By the way, political scientists started talking about him five minutes after the news that O. Buzina had been killed. Of course, who else, besides the Russians, could kill a pro-Russian writer in Kyiv? This is alarming. There is a feeling that no one wants to look at any other traces. An indicative quote in this regard belongs again to V. Vovk from the SBU: “There are different versions. In particular, about the involvement of Russian special services in crimes. But these are only versions. No one now speaks as an established fact that these murders were either planned, or orchestrated, or carried out with the help of the intelligence services of foreign states.”

Who benefits from turning murder into a farce?

No one heard any other news about the progress of the investigation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But from Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs- it is in this capacity that he is known much more than the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada - we learned about a fun, one might say, April Fools' prank on the “Peacemaker” website. The site collected information about the enemies of Ukraine. All sorts of “Colorados”. Last names, photos, home addresses and other details. And it seems that the day before the murder of O. Kalashnikov, information about him appeared there. In exactly the same way - the day before the murder of O. Buzina - information about him. A scandal broke out. “Peacemaker” is an information site for killers,” it was dubbed in the Russian and “LPR/DPR” media. But it turned out that A. Gerashchenko, who actually produced the site, was simply innocently playing pranks.

In hot pursuit

Who killed Oles Buzina?

On April 16 in Kyiv, near his house on Degtyarevskaya Street, 58, two unknown masked men shot the famous Ukrainian writer and journalist, author of the book “The Ghoul Taras Shevchenko” Oles Buzina. Buzina was one of the pro-Russian citizens of Ukraine, advocated its federalization, actively opposed the Maidan and the Orange Revolution, and was in opposition to the current political regime. Who could benefit from the murder of a journalist, the online publication GORDON looked into

CHAIRMAN OF THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE OF UKRAINE IN 2005-2010, ARMY GENERAL NIKOLAY MALOMUZH: “NO ISSUE CAN BE SOLVED BY RADICAL METHODS, BECAUSE THIS IS A CRIME”

— Now there is a tough political confrontation between forces oriented toward Russia and those who defend other positions. This causes controversy in

political grounds, which are resolved using the most radical methods. In the future, I think, military structures or individual executors will be involved, resolving the dispute in ways that are contrary to the law - murders, kidnappings, threats or injuries. But we must remember that the fate of people who committed crimes during the Maidan period must be decided by the court in a legal manner. A number of political structures are not ready for such a mechanism of action and resort to either physical lustration - violence against opponents, or even their destruction through contract killings.

The next version of the murder of Buzina and Kalashnikov is that witnesses are being purged. She also has a right to exist. However, at the moment there are more important people against whom neither operational nor radical action was taken. Such actions are applied to the same people who manifested themselves at the lower level. In my opinion, this version is still the least likely, because there are much more significant witnesses and high-profile opponents who are not killed. They either left the country or are here and feel calm.

We announced a new system of democracy, and, of course, not a single issue can be resolved by radical methods, because this is a crime.

As for the Moscow trace in the murder of Buzina, it seems to me that this would be too clumsy an attempt to shake up the situation. Russian services act more subtly. Putin announced the fact of Buzina’s death live, because they have a very powerful system of informing about the situation in Ukraine. The intelligence services instantly receive information and give it to Putin even during a press conference - what happened in our state, be it the murder of Kalashnikov or Buzina. I doubt that Putin’s entourage would arrange a murder during a press conference, it would be too open.

PEOPLE'S DEPUTY OF UKRAINE, MEMBER OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE FOR ANTI-CORRUPTION VLADIMIR PARASYUK: “BUZINA WAS A MAN OF THE KREMLE WHO WAS RECRUITED BY THE FSB”

“I don’t know who is doing this and what the motivation is, but I know for sure that this will always happen with traitors and sex workers, because no one likes chameleons - neither their own nor others.

Buzina was a Kremlin man whom the FSB recruited to carry out tasks to destabilize the situation in our country. There is no need to call him a journalist, because he was not a journalist at all. This is a liar and a provocateur who wrote custom articles and gave false analyzes for money. He despised everything Ukrainian and ridiculed the Maidan, reviled Shevchenko and Lesya Ukrainka. Because of people like this bastard, there is a war in our country and a certain percentage of the population has a cotton-wool brain. Our anthem comes to life: “Our little witches will perish like dew on the sun...”.

Perhaps these are their own people killing their own people, or perhaps these are the Ukrainian avengers. Personally, I am for the second option.

PEOPLE'S DEPUTY OF UKRAINE ALEXANDER BRIGINETS: “PUTIN NEEDS THESE KILLINGS EXTREMELY”

- Yesterday they killed Kalashnikov, today - Buzina. Knew both of them well. And before they showed themselves with their aggressive

pro-Russian views. I knew it even when it was discovered. He was a principled opponent of both. And now - a principled opponent of the one who ordered them. I am categorically against murder. The only exception that I allow is the destruction of an enemy who is fighting against your country with weapons in his hands.

These murders are identical, like twins: several shots. Murder near the house. Both killed are bright, noticeable, absolutely uninfluential and marginal in their own way. Both were despised by their own people, as well as by others, and used, and they, on the contrary, tried to prove their importance in the “anti-people cause.” Condolences to the families.

Wishes to the security forces: they need to find the killers as quickly as possible, because there will be other similar murders. It’s not for nothing that they killed Putin during Putin’s direct line. These murders are extremely necessary for Putin, so they need to be stopped both for reasons of fairness of punishment and for reasons of confronting the aggressor.

Kalashnikov and Buzina had no political enemies - there were (and quite a few) those who despised them. But they don't kill because of neglect. I have no doubt about the order in the interests of the aggressor.

THREE TIMES FORMER PROSECUTOR GENERAL OF UKRAINE SVYATOSLAV PISKUN: “RIGHT-RIGHT RADICAL PEOPLE DECIDED TO ORGANIZE MYSTICIAL JUDGMENT”

Evgeniy Kuzmenko

— I have several versions of this emergency. I confirm what I said earlier: they are cleaning up the tracks so that there are no witnesses to any financial fraud.

But now I'm leaning more towards a different version. There are right-wing radical people who organized certain structures like the “Red Brigades” that were in Italy. And they, seeing that the authorities were not taking action according to the law against those who should be held accountable, decided to organize lynching. This is the worst thing that could happen. Nobody knows who will be next. They will kill not those who are really guilty, but those who are easier to get.

I don’t know where Putin spoke, I don’t track him. We shouldn't care what Putin said. I have always said: we need to reveal and find the criminals, and then it will be clear who killed. In order not to listen to Putin, Shmutin, Ivanov, Petrov, it is necessary to reveal and find the murderers. There is no other way out. The unsolved crime is causing speculation and chaos in the country.

COLUMNIST OF THE GORDON ONLINE PUBLICATION EVGENY KUZMENKO: “THE ARE BEST SUITABLE FOR THE ROLE OF VICTIMS ARE THOSE WHO LOUDLY AND LOUDLY SPOKE AGAINST THE CURRENT AUTHORITY”

“I don’t understand those who are shaking with joy from killing Elderberry.” If these are “people's avengers” and crazy outcasts, they -

damn, because deaths in the capital of Ukraine are what Ukraine needs least of all right now. If these are “accomplices”... And in the case of Buzina, do you believe in accomplices covering their tracks? Give it up. Not the same level.

But deliberately discrediting the country and creating an atmosphere of panic is very dangerous. And the best candidates for the role of victims in this case are those who have loudly and loudly opposed the current government - before and now. It's the third case that worries me the most. However, the first one couldn’t be darker. But I believe more in the third.

POLITICAL SCIENTIST VLADIMIR FESENKO: “RUSSIAN SPECIAL SERVICES MAY BE BEHIND THE MURDER OF ELDERBOY”

“The fact that Putin announced this murder live literally an hour after it was committed leads to certain conclusions. There is a great suspicion that this was done specifically so that he could publicly declare political terror in Ukraine.

But in general, this is an element of a large propaganda war, and there is no need to draw conclusions from this about some new military action being prepared against Ukraine. This is not the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand (who started World War I). Those killed were not such significant figures in the pro-Russian camp that any serious power operations could be based on their murder. Yes, they were known for their scandalousness, but they did not play any key role either in the Party of Regions or in the current opposition. These are sacred victims for propaganda.

The Russian special services may be behind this, although the murders themselves were done by the hands of some nationalist scumbags. This is the traditional method of work of the special services, as in the case of the murder of Boris Nemtsov. But the fact that this happened literally during Putin’s press conference very much indicates who benefits from this.

POLITICAL SCIENTIST VADIM KARASEV: “POLITICAL MURDER WORKS TO PROVOKE A TRANSITION FROM PASSIVE TO ACTIVE PROTEST”

— When there are two political murders in two days, it is obvious that this is no longer an accident, but a trend. And if there may still be some questions about the murder of Oleg Kalashnikov, then there are no doubts about the murder of Oles Buzina. Here you can clearly feel the handwriting of certain services of a certain state, which is trying in every possible way to undermine the situation in Ukraine, launch a new round of confrontation in the country and provoke a civil conflict.

Most likely, this is part of some stage of the overall plan to destabilize the situation in Ukraine. The political murder of a prominent pro-Russian civil activist works to provoke pro-Russian Ukrainian citizens to move from passive to active protest. It is aimed at intensifying their protest sentiments.

FORMER ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN ANDREY ILLARIONOV: “THE KILLING OF BUSINA IS VERY SIMILAR TO A PROVOCATION DELIBERATELY TIMED TO A DIRECT LINE IN MOSCOW”

“Unfortunately, the murder of Buzina is very similar to a provocation deliberately timed to coincide with a direct line in Moscow. This thought

Vadim Karasev

would have arisen even without the comments of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but then the comments were made promptly.

It should be noted that before this there were no political assassinations of this kind in Ukraine. There were suicides, but there were no such deliberate, demonstrative crimes. You can only remember Georgy Gongadze and Vyacheslav Chornovil, but then I can’t name political murders with such a context. There were several after the Orange Revolution, but they had a specific goal - to hide data from investigation.

Of course, the main goal of such provocations is to create the appropriate impression in the world that the authorities in Kyiv are illegitimate, nationalistic, and not in control of the situation, which is what Putin said during the direct line. Moreover, he committed an outright distortion, since neither the customers nor the killers have yet been identified - the murder actually just happened.

The Russian campaign against Kyiv has long been planned, two years ago, but there are many versions of how it will take place. Moreover, the military version is one of the versions; in addition to it, there are at least four more, including, of course, the fifth - the provocative one.

PEOPLE'S DEPUTY OF UKRAINE VLADIMIR ARYEV: “THE KILLINGS OF KALASHNIKOV AND BUZINA ARE OBVIOUS ACTIONS OF THE RF SPECIAL SERVICES”

— The murders of Kalashnikov and Buzina are obvious actions of the Russian special services aimed at destabilizing Ukraine and creating an appropriate image for our country in the world. These cases should become a priority for the SBU. Other figures from the Kremlin pool should be immediately given protection, especially before May 9.

PRESS SECRETARY OF THE RIGHT SECTOR PARTY ARTEM SKOROPADSKY: “BUZINA AND KALASHNIKOV BROUGHT A LOT

Artem Skoropadsky
HARM TO THE COUNTRY, BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THEY SHOULD BE KILLED.”

“We cannot assume what these murders are connected with.” Our specialists and analysts are engaged in the development of the party. Right Sector categorically condemns such crimes. This is why we registered a political party, to fight for our ideals within the framework of the law.

The murders of Oles Buzina and Oleg Kalashnikov are as much of a surprise to us as they are to all citizens of Ukraine. It is clear that Buzina and Kalashnikov were Ukrainophobes and brought a lot of harm to the country, but this does not mean that they need to be killed.

The same Kalashnikov had to be convicted - he is an outright criminal. There is nothing to judge Elderberry for. Public shaming would be enough to prevent people from buying his books or reading his articles.

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The trial of the murder of Ukrainian writer and publicist Oles Buzina begins in Kyiv. He was shot at the entrance of the house in which he lived in April 2015. No one has any illusions that the process will take place impartially: suspects of the crime were greeted with flowers upon leaving the pre-trial detention center. How the investigation went and who is uncomfortable with the truth about the writer’s murder - in the RIA Novosti material.

"Cold blood and complete indifference"

The lawyer of the mother of the murdered journalist, Renat Kuzmin, published a post on a social network where he explained why objectivity should not be expected.

In particular, Kuzmin noted that he has “no illusions regarding the integrity of the actions of the GPU (Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. - Ed.) in the upcoming trial.” “From the first day of the investigation, the GPU did everything to ensure that this murder remained unsolved. Most of the obvious versions, including the involvement of members of the Ukrainian special services and militarized radical formations in the murder, were ignored by the investigation,” - this is how the lawyer summed up the investigative actions of the Ukrainian security forces over three years.

As Kuzmin recalled, the investigation did not add to the case materials indicating that the accused - nationalists and participants in Kyiv’s force operation in the Donbass, Andrei Medvedko and Denis Polishchuk - were under the secret control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the time of the murder. Their phones were tapped and they were under surveillance.

“Important documents were stolen from the case materials, including protocols of interrogations of witnesses indicating that the murder was committed not by the suspects, but by other persons,” the lawyer outlines the situation.

He also pointed out procedural violations and the fact that the organizers and customers of the crime had not been identified. Finally, the fact that for some reason the prosecutor's office sent the case to Odessa in order to get a pretext to close it. In a word, Kuzmin described in a dry legal manner how the Ukrainian authorities did everything step by step to ensure that no one knew the truth about the high-profile murder.

Buzina’s widow Natalia emotionally confirmed that the authorities are not interested in the investigation. “Olesya’s mother’s requests to accept her were ignored by everyone - the Prosecutor General, the head of the SBU, and the President of Ukraine.<…>. Composure and complete indifference to maternal grief<…>. Our lawyers are under constant psychological pressure,” she said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Natalia spoke about the motives for the murder as follows: “The level of cruelty has increased. Human life has lost value. We stopped hearing arguments, weapons became the best argument<…>. It was all on a hot head."

The writer’s wife has no doubt: today, even taking into account the intransigence of the parties in the civil confrontation in Ukraine, Buzina would not have been killed. “They would open several criminal cases, they would take them to court, like Guzhva or Kotsaba (Igor Guzhva and Ruslan Kotsaba are Ukrainian journalists who were persecuted in their country - Ed.), but they would not kill,” she is sure.

Flowers for the accused

Both Natalia Buzina and Renat Kuzmin, for obvious reasons, speak rather reservedly about the process. Every step of the investigation was accompanied by hooligan excesses. The authorities did not even try to pretend that anyone was seriously trying to find the culprits. The radicals openly demonstrated: there is no point in the work of law enforcement agencies, it is useless to seek justice.

Both suspects were taken into custody in June 2015, then released, then again placed in a pre-trial detention center. And in December of the same year, Polishchuk and Medvedko were generally released under house arrest. Moreover, at the exit from the pre-trial detention center, both were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of supporters with flowers - the militants were literally carried in their arms.

In August of the same year, Right Sector activists * installed a memorial plaque at the site of Buzina’s murder. The memorial was dedicated - no, not to the murdered writer, but... to Polishchuk and Medvedko - “to Ukrainian nationalists who are subject to wrongful criminal charges.”

Everything that followed resembled a farce, not a consequence. In June 2016, the interrogation protocols of political scientist Vladimir Fesenko disappeared from the criminal case. He told the investigation that he had received a letter with information about the organization of the murder of Buzina by the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army)*.

In July of the same year, DNA samples were forcibly taken from suspects Andrei Medvedko and Denis Polishchuk. Investigators needed to compare them with DNA found on clothing items abandoned at the crime scene.

The suspects and their radical supporters pointedly refused to help law enforcement officers. We had to use special forces. Verkhovna Rada deputy Igor Lutsenko even threw a tantrum about this: they say the police beat Medvedko and Polishchuk and their lawyers. “Now I’m worried about my life, because today I was almost killed,” Medvedko later complained to reporters.

Later, a support group poured bull's blood on the steps and doors of the Prosecutor General's Office building in protest against the criminal prosecution of Medvedko and Polishchuk.

The radicals did not even think of hiding the fact that Buzina was killed by them. They were proud of it. The suspects enjoyed every possible support.

Killed in his hometown

Oles Buzina was shot dead on April 16, 2015, near his home in Kyiv. Shortly before this, he resigned from his post as editor-in-chief of the Segodnya newspaper, disagreeing with the introduced censorship.

Buzina’s views caused outrage among both official Kyiv and Ukrainian nationalists. The writer believed that Ukraine should be bilingual and that such a large country needed federalization. Buzina considered both Ukrainians and Belarusians to be Russian people. He criticized Kyiv's cultural policy, saying that the country spends "a huge amount of time not so much on recreating Ukrainian culture, but on trying to destroy Russian culture."

His books were a success, since he wrote “across lined paper.” He is the author of such books as “The Resurrection of Little Russia”, “Give Back Harems to Women”, “Dokievskaya Rus”, as well as “The Union of the Plow and the Trident. How Ukraine was Invented” - radicals could hate him just for this title. Buzina also owns such a work as “The Ghoul Taras Shevchenko” - unknown pages from the life of the icon of Ukrainian nationalism. “The purpose of this book is to debunk the myth about Shevchenko. You will recognize a completely different Kobzar - not a genius and a saint, but an alcoholic and an envious person,” the publisher announced the book. As a result, the National Union of Writers of Ukraine sued Buzina. Oles won the trial.

The writer did not accept either the Maidan or the government that came on the wave of the “revolution of dignity”. About the reunification of Crimea with Russia and the conflict in Donbass, he said exactly the opposite of what the official propaganda of Kyiv claimed.

“Why do even the most ardent supporters of Maidan, having visited Crimea, which the Ukrainian authorities call an “occupied” territory, note the joy of the overwhelming majority of local residents at the “occupation”?” - Buzina asked unpleasant questions to his opponents.

And he added that “Poroshenko and Co. no longer have the opportunity to fire at Sevastopol and Simferopol with artillery guns, like Donetsk and Lugansk, covering up this crime against their own people with the abbreviation ATO.”

Having the courage to criticize both official Kyiv and Ukrainian nationalists, the writer did not want to leave his country, although he was repeatedly offered to do so. Elderberry was killed in his hometown.

*Organizations are recognized as extremist and are banned in Russia.

It is not at all difficult to do this, because they do not hide from the people behind bodyguards or steel sheets of armored vehicles, they do not walk in crowds of “brothers” hung with machine guns and grenades, and do not travel in motorcades guarded by special services. A journalist is always in the thick of things, among people, he is open to everyone and is armed only with a camera and a laptop. He lives in our house, goes out into the yard, warmly greeting his neighbors, and does not suspect that he is already being targeted by those who prefer to win arguments by force of arms rather than by arguments...

What a guy he was...

It just so happened that Oles Buzina’s first fame turned out to be somewhat scandalous. His book “The Ghoul Taras Shevchenko” was met with hostility by the national-patriotic part of the Ukrainian public, to put it mildly. Perhaps, in today’s Ukraine, such a publication is simply impossible: the printing house would be burned down by “patriots” in balaclavas, and the author would first be lynched, and then convicted of “treason to the motherland.” But then, fifteen years ago, during the Kuchma regime, nationally-concerned hypocrites were not in power, and the beginnings of the future “Right Sector” were hidden from the police somewhere in basements. Although raising one's tail against the authorities was still fraught with trouble, citizens could still freely express their opinions about history, politics, and art, without fear that they would come after them.

"Ghoul" was a work from the cycle of "exposing the idols of the past." At that time, it was generally very fashionable to expose, but everyone was mainly interested in kicking the harmless leaders of Marxism or historical figures of Russia. Buzina encroached on the eternal cult of Shevchenko, which was formed in tsarist times, strengthened during the Soviet era and successfully migrated to modern Ukraine. For more than a hundred years, Kobzar was the main icon of national patriots, on whom he never noticed any stains until Oles Buzina did it.

Actually, the distinctive feature of his “Ghoul” is that Buzina dispensed with the fantasies and conjectures typical of many “iconoclasts”, but drew information from publicly available literature, only offering to look at well-known facts in a new way, critically, with irony. It was almost impossible to oppose this, besides, national patriots are known to be bad debaters, and Buzina never minced his words, so they could only hate him fiercely. This formed the image of the new star of Ukrainian literature and journalism.

Oles Buzina very quickly became a popular author, whose books, articles and essays were opened only after seeing the author’s last name and read avidly.

National patriots called him an enemy of Ukraine - like everyone who did not share their views. But Oles was only an enemy of the farm “sharovarshchina”, which he wittily ridiculed, and the shameless distortion of history. He had his own view on it, he was a supporter of the unity of the East Slavic peoples, a Russophile - like his ancestors, the Little Russian Cossacks, and often made fun of the European-integrating Galicians as his opponents. He often presented events of the past or present from an unexpected perspective, but he never lied, did not copy “incriminating documents” from the air, and did not attribute zeros to the number of victims. Therefore, it was impossible to refute Buzin or accuse him of lying, which infuriated his opponents. But in order to defeat him in an argument, it was necessary to give your own, more interesting and convincing view of the event. And this required remarkable talent, which not everyone possesses.

Alas, it turned out that no one was going to argue with Oles Buzina. They booed him, they shouted insults at his back and growled threats in his face, they even tried to beat him. And when the turmoil began in Ukraine and the most compelling argument in any dispute became a pistol and a machine gun, Olesya was simply killed...

Who needs it?

Considering Oles Buzina’s extremely unfavorable relationship with national patriots, the first suspicion fell, of course, on them. Moreover, the news of his death caused outright joy in some of them, and some did not even hesitate to openly spit on the body that had not yet cooled down. And whatever the outcome of the investigation - if, of course, it is carried out objectively - their political opponents in Ukraine and Russia will still vehemently believe in the version “he was killed by neo-Benderaites.”

Nevertheless, the version of the political reprisal of the frantic jingoists, who finally decided to get even with the “Ukrainophobe” and the “vatnik,” looks quite “cop-like.” I mean, our law enforcement agencies have a tradition of immediately pinning the blame on someone with whom the person killed was in a quarrel. And often a completely innocent person becomes accused.

Agree that the “patriots” had a whole year (!) to show up to Oles Buzina with a whole hundred “Maidan Self-Defense”, or the “Azov” battalion, or simply “Right Sector activists”, and arrange a lynching for him. But what happens, they waited patiently for a whole year and only now decided to kill him? Moreover, vilely, anonymously, emphatically criminal. Without forcing you to crawl on your knees, kiss the flag, sing the anthem and shout “glory to the heroes!” Somehow this doesn’t look like the current “hurray-patriots”; this is not their style.

In addition, the murder of Oles Buzina is the third high-profile murder in the last few days. On the night of April 13, outside Kiev (at Rusanovsky Gardens), journalist Sergei Sukhobok, one of the founders of the famous publication Obkom, was killed. The police have already announced that this murder has been solved, assuring that this is a banal domestic conflict with neighbors in the country.

The murder of former Party of Regions deputy Oleg Kalashnikov was already obviously deliberate: he was shot near his apartment on April 15, a day before the murder of Oles Buzina. Kalashnikov was little known to the general public, but active participants in political processes in Ukraine knew him as one of the leaders of the Kyiv Anti-Maidan. Kalashnikov continued his opposition activities, called on Kiev residents to celebrate May 9 as Victory Day, for which he received threats against him. Now there are rumors that he was not arrested by the SBU only because through him the security service reached out to Kiev residents dissatisfied with the authorities...

But few people know about another, fourth victim: on April 15, the editor of a local newspaper, Olga Moroz, was killed in the Khmelnitsky region. Although her death seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the high-profile murders in Kyiv, it still added a dark negativity to the overall picture of this surreal nightmare...

Well, Olga Moroz dealt with local corruption, in particular, deforestation - a problem that has now become acute throughout Ukraine, from the Carpathians to the Donbass. Sergei Sukhobok, who left the rebellious Donetsk, could not possibly be classified as a “separatist”, and, according to the police, he was killed in an ordinary “everyday life”. However, Oles Buzina and Oleg Kalashnikov were in active opposition to the current government and made many enemies among national patriots who themselves connect these two deaths. “Yesterday Kalashnikov, today Buzina, I wonder who will be tomorrow?” - Vladimir Parasyuk wrote in his blog, who also decided to speak out against the deceased, calling him a “provocateur” and “FSB agent.”

It is interesting that information about Buzin and Kalashnikov (including home address) two days before their murder was posted on the “Peacemaker” website, specially created with the support of the authorities and the leadership of the ATO to “identify separatists and terrorists.” The presentation of this site to the general public in December was personally carried out by Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko. The same one who, a few hours after the murder of Buzina, hastened to blame the Russian special services for this.

Well, such an accusation is typical of the traditional version of “they are bombing themselves” and, in general, the tradition of the current government to blame the Kremlin and Putin for everything. However, such a version is doubtful, first of all, because for Moscow, living Buzina and Kalashnikov, as active oppositionists to the Kyiv government, would be much more profitable than dead ones. That is, there was no reason for the Russian special services to kill them.

In the same way, there was no point in doing this for the Ukrainian special services. Living oppositionists could be dragged through investigations, imprisoned, and a bunch of articles slapped on them. As a last resort, stage an accident or suicide, but do not make victims of the regime out of them!

Although there has been so much absurdity in the actions of both the Ukrainian and Russian sides over the past couple of years that these versions are also not without meaning.

But then who benefits from the demonstrative death of Oles Buzina? It seems that this question hangs in the air and gives rise to many terrible assumptions, forcing Ukrainian citizens to look around in fear, fearing the executioners of unknown “death squads” of some third force...

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Nikolay MALOMUZH
Chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine in 2005-2010, army general.

As for the Moscow trace in the murder of Buzina, it seems to me that this would be a too clumsy attempt to shake up the situation. Russian services act more subtly. G

Now there is a tough political confrontation between forces oriented towards Russia and those who defend other positions. This causes contradictions on political grounds, which are resolved using the most radical methods. In the future, I think, military structures or individual executors will be involved, resolving the dispute in ways that are contrary to the law - murders, kidnappings, threats or injuries. But we must remember that the fate of people who committed crimes during the Maidan period must be decided by the court in a legal manner.

A number of political structures are not ready for such a mechanism of action and resort to either physical lustration - violence against opponents, or even their destruction through contract killings.

We announced a new system of democracy, and, of course, not a single issue can be resolved by radical methods, because this is a crime.

Vladimir PARASYUK
Centurion of the Maidan Self-Defense, people's deputy of Ukraine, member of the parliamentary anti-corruption committee.

Buzina was a Kremlin man who was recruited by the FSB to carry out tasks to destabilize the situation in our country. This will always be the case with traitors and sex workers, because no one likes chameleons - neither their own nor others.

I don’t know who does this and what the motivation is, but I know for sure that this will always happen with traitors and sex workers, because no one likes chameleons - neither their own nor others.

Buzina was a Kremlin man who was recruited by the FSB to carry out tasks to destabilize the situation in our country. There is no need to call him a journalist, because he was not a journalist at all. This is a liar and a provocateur who wrote custom articles and gave false analyzes for money. He despised everything Ukrainian and ridiculed the Maidan. He vilified Shevchenko and Lesya Ukrainka. Because of people like this bastard, there is a war in our country and a certain percentage of the population has a cotton-wool brain.

Our anthem comes to life: “Our warriors will perish like dew on the sun...”

Perhaps these are their own people killing their own people, or perhaps these are the Ukrainian avengers. Personally, I am for the second option.

Alexander BRIGINETS
People's Deputy from the VO "Batkivshchyna".

These murders are extremely necessary for Putin, so they need to be stopped both for reasons of fairness of punishment and for reasons of confronting the aggressor.

Yesterday they killed Kalashnikov, today - Buzina.

Knew both of them well. And before they showed themselves with their aggressive pro-Russian views. I knew it even when it was discovered. He was a principled opponent of both. And now - a principled opponent to the one who ordered them. I am categorically against murder. The only exception that I allow is the destruction of an enemy who is fighting against your country with weapons in his hands.

These murders are the same. They're Twins: Several shots. Murder near the house. Both killed are bright, noticeable, absolutely uninfluential and marginal in their own way. Both were despised by their own people, as well as by others, and used, and they, on the contrary, tried to prove their importance in the “anti-people cause.” Condolences to the families.

Svyatoslav PISKUN
He was the Prosecutor General of Ukraine three times (2002-2003, 2004-2005, 2007), a former people's deputy from the Party of Regions.

Right-wing people, seeing that the authorities were not taking action according to the law against those who should be held accountable, decided to organize lynching. Nobody knows who will be next. They will not kill those who are really guilty, but those who are easier to get. G

I have several versions of this emergency. What I said earlier, I confirm: they are cleaning up the tracks so that there are no witnesses to any financial fraud.

But now I'm leaning more towards a different version. There are right-wing radical people who organized certain structures such as the “Red Brigades” that were in Italy. And they, seeing that the authorities were not taking action according to the law against those who should be held accountable, decided to organize lynching. This is the worst thing that could happen. Nobody knows who will be next. They will kill not those who are really guilty, but those who are easier to get.

I don’t know where Putin spoke, I don’t track him. We shouldn't care what Putin said. I have always said: we need to reveal and find the criminals, and then it will be clear who killed. In order not to listen to Putin, Shmutin, Ivanov, Petrov, it is necessary to reveal and find the killers. There is no other way out. The unsolved crime is causing speculation and chaos in the country.

Evgeniy KUZMENKO
Journalist for the website "Censor.NET", blogger.

Deliberately discrediting a country and creating an atmosphere of panic is very dangerous. And the people who are most suitable for the role of victims in this case are those who spoke a lot and noisily against the current government - before and now.

I don’t understand those who are shaking with joy from killing Elderberry.

If these are “people's avengers” and crazy outcasts, they are the fucking ones, because deaths in the capital of Ukraine are what Ukraine needs least of all now.

If these are “accomplices”... And in the case of Buzina, do you believe in accomplices covering their tracks? Give it up. Not the same level.

But deliberately discrediting the country and creating an atmosphere of panic is very dangerous. And the people who are most suitable for the role of victims in this case are those who spoke a lot and noisily against the current government - before and now.

It's the third case that worries me the most. However, the first one couldn’t be darker. But I believe more in the third.

Vladimir FESENKO
Political scientist, head of the Penta Center for Applied Political Research.

Russian special services may be behind Buzina’s murder. This is the traditional method of work of the special services, as in the case of the murder of Boris Nemtsov. But the fact that this happened literally during Putin’s press conference very much indicates who benefits from this. G

The fact that Putin announced this murder live literally an hour after it was committed leads to certain conclusions. There is a great suspicion that this was done specifically so that he could publicly declare political terror in Ukraine.

Vadim KARASEV
Political scientist, director of the Institute of Global Strategies.

The political murder of a prominent pro-Russian civil activist works to provoke pro-Russian Ukrainian citizens to move from passive to active protest. G

When there are two political murders in two days, it is obvious that this is no longer an accident, but a trend. And if there may still be some questions about the murder of Oleg Kalashnikov, then there are no doubts about the murder of Oles Buzina. Here you can clearly feel the handwriting of certain services of a certain state, which is trying in every possible way to undermine the situation in Ukraine, launch a new round of confrontation in the country and provoke a civil conflict.

Andrey ILLARIONOV
Russian economist, former adviser to President Vladimir Putin, one of the founders of the Russian Maidan Solidarity Committee.

The murder of Buzina is very similar to a provocation, intended to coincide with today's direct line in Moscow. The main goal of such provocations is to create the appropriate impression in the world that the authorities in Kyiv are illegitimate, nationalistic, and not in control of the situation. G

Unfortunately, the murder of Buzina is very similar to a provocation, deliberately timed to coincide with today's direct line in Moscow. This idea would have arisen even without the comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and then the comments were made promptly.

Of course, the main goal of such provocations is to create the appropriate impression in the world that the authorities in Kyiv are illegitimate, nationalistic, and out of control of the situation, which is what Putin said during the direct line. Moreover, he committed an outright distortion, since neither the customers nor the killers have yet been identified - the murder actually just happened.

The Russian campaign against Kyiv has long been planned, two years ago, but there are many versions of how it will take place. Moreover, the military version is one of the versions, besides it there are at least four more, including, of course, the fifth - provocative.

Vladimir AREV
People's Deputy from the VO "Batkivshchyna".

The murders of Kalashnikov and Buzina are obvious actions of the Russian special services aimed at destabilizing Ukraine and creating an appropriate image for our country in the world.

These cases should become a priority for the SBU. Other figures from the Kremlin pool should be immediately given protection, especially before May 9.