Ukraine now ‘a European Somalia’ – exiled opposition leader

Ukraine has become “a European Somalia,” exiled opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk has said in response to the country being placed on a list of the world’s most dangerous places.

In an opinion piece for the Drugaya Ukraina outlet published on Monday, Medvedchuk wrote that Ukraine found itself among Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia on the ‘Risk Map’ released by the International SOS health and security service firm last week. The company evaluates countries annually based on four risk criteria: Security, medical, climate change, and mental health.

The opposition leader stressed that in terms of safety and mental health, “the regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky beats even the most underdeveloped countries. After all, such Russophobic cannibalism introduced into the state policies of modern Ukraine can’t be found even among the most backward and aggressive tribes of Africa.”

He mentioned reports of forced conscription, the destruction of Russia-linked monuments, aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric by the Ukrainian media, and videos showing suspected looters being tied to lampposts as punishment among the signs of what he called “mass madness” in Ukraine.

According to Medvedchuk, it began long before the launch of Russia’s military operation in the country in February 2022. “Ukraine… had been driven crazy; people were forced to forget their roots, faith, history, language, and traditions. All this was done at the behest of the West, and billions had been spent on it, which the Western politicians openly acknowledged,” he wrote.

And when the conflict between Moscow and Kiev started, “the Western politicians didn’t rush to extinguish it but began to ignite it, supplying weapons and money in huge quantities [to Ukraine],” the 69-year-old politician wrote. Due to this backing by the US and its allies, “Zelensky’s deranged regime imagined itself the center of the universe and completely lost touch with reality,” he added.

“The Ukrainian people found themselves in a madhouse where the most dangerous patients have seized power,” Medvedchuk wrote. Staying in Ukraine is “dangerous for mentally healthy people,” and that’s why all of them are trying to flee the country, he insisted.

Medvedchuk used to be the head of the Opposition Platform – For Life party, formerly the largest opposition faction in the Ukrainian parliament. But after the outbreak of the conflict with Russia, he was branded a traitor and arrested. The opposition figure spent months in detention before being handed over to Moscow in a prisoner swap in September last year.

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