Zelenskyy demands free public transport in Kyiv: Zhelezniak says it is attempt to divert attention from corruption
Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak criticized President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the president demanded that the government prepare a program for free public transport in Kyiv.
Zhelezniak made the remarks in a post on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
Free public transport instead of fighting corruption
Zhelezniak said the authorities were now in their eighth year of promising to fight corruption while building their own power structure and appointing people who later end up at the center of high-profile scandals.
The lawmaker said some of those appointees had been caught covering up various crimes.
"You appoint outright scumbags, the worst of the worst, and then they get caught covering up everything from drug dealing to kidnapping and torturing people," Zhelezniak wrote.
He also questioned whether it was appropriate for the president to give the government such an instruction, saying that matters like this fall outside the Cabinet of Ministers’ remit.
"But now that’s all anyone is talking about," the lawmaker added.
Investigative journalist Yurii Nikolov also reacted to Zelenskyy’s decision.
"Mr. Commander-in-Chief! Your SSU (Security Service of Ukraine) is protecting a drug cartel and gangsters!
— Oh, how unfortunate… Get electricians to Obolon right away and give Kyiv residents free rides!" he wrote.
