Candidate for position of director of BEB Skomarov on his father’s Russian passport: forced to obtain it while under occupation
The other day, the media reported that the father of Oleksandr Skomarov, a key candidate for the post of BES director, had received Russian citizenship in 2024. Today, on 8 June, Skomarov explained the circumstances under which his father was forced to obtain Russian citizenship.
Oleksandr Skomarov posted this on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
"These days, my 75-year-old father, Viktor Skomarov, has become a real star of anonymous TV channels and websites with no feedback form. You may have also seen the corresponding advertising posts on social media. "I became a 'star' along with my father," he wrote.
Skomarov commented on the situation
"In this regard, I consider it necessary to provide a personal public comment on the information disseminated.
1. My father, who now lives in Kyiv, was forcibly issued a passport by the "documents" of the aggressor country while he was still under occupation in the Luhansk region. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of other Ukrainian citizens suffered the same fate. It is well known that under occupation, without this "document", a person is not even provided with utility and medical services, housing is taken away, and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms are restricted. The main motivation for my father to obtain a passport was to leave the temporarily occupied territory without hindrance.
2. How does this affect me and my work? It does not. I have been serving Ukraine since 2010, and since 2015 I have been honoured to serve in the NABU - the most effective law enforcement agency.
3. Of course, my dad has no business or any other ties to the occupiers, but it was just boring and uninteresting to write about his passport. No one would give me money for that.
4. Did I hide anything from the Competition Commission? No. I provided more information than I was even asked for, because I have nothing to hide.
That's the whole campaign against me," he wrote.
Why is this information being disseminated now?
Skomarov noted that today (8 June - Ed.) the final interviews for the position of BES Director were to begin, and your disobedient servant Sasha Skomarov, following the old habit of a chronic excellent student and perfectionist, "came in" in first place in the comprehensive rating for professionalism and leadership qualities. I could have been more modest and skipped a couple of questions to avoid taking the heat, but I don't know how to do that. I have to go through this path as usual.
Of course, the ranking is not the result of the competition, and the Commission has the right to choose any of the 16 candidates. But in the near future, it will be me who will be taking the hit, and that's even a little bit comforting.
"However, the reform of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine is already under threat, and interviews have been postponed. Time will tell what all this will lead to. But such a costly campaign against me indicates that resources are currently on the side of those who oppose the Bureau's reform," Skomarov said.
Now about the temporarily occupied territories.
This situation is a good opportunity for everyone, and especially the state, to think about what happens to Ukrainian citizens under occupation?
What about those who did not cooperate with the occupiers, but were unable to leave and received a passport for the sake of survival? Are they second-class citizens or people with limited rights? Can their relatives in the free territories of Ukraine be labelled as an "unreliable contingent"?
If this is the new Ukrainian reality, I do not want to accept it. And I would strongly advise those who are fuelling this fire to think about the consequences and stop.
"I believe that the competition will take place. I believe that the Commission will select a worthy candidate. I wish my colleagues success and wisdom to go this way without losing their dignity, which is an important element in shaping our perception as representatives of the law enforcement community in the eyes of society," Skomarov concluded.
