The corruption revelations in Kiev undoubtedly serve the interests of the Kremlin, as they undermine the trust of Western partners and donors, but they are the result of internal institutional conflicts, not direct Russian interference. He stated this in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the World in Focus" on Radio FOCUS, the co-chair of the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria and former acting deputy minister of internal affairs Ivan Anchev.
The reason for his comment was the money laundering investigations against the former deputy head of the presidential office Irina Mudra, as well as the case surrounding Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, about whom there were allegations that he had left the country.
Anchev specified that it was still too early to talk about Kravchenko's "escape", since he himself claims that he is outside Ukraine for an official purpose. However, the expert emphasized that the situation is extremely serious due to the deep rift between the traditional prosecutor's office and the new anti-corruption bodies - the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP).
"Currently, President Zelensky is under double pressure. On the one hand, there is the traditional prosecutor's office, and on the other - the anti-corruption units, which are backed by European support. Continuing external funding is subject to very strict control. The political consequences of these scandals may increase the pressure for early presidential elections, with figures such as former commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny and former minister Mikhail Fedorov already standing out,“ Anchev pointed out. He added that the corruption scandals have no direct impact on the actions on the front, they are unlikely to stop military aid, and the perpetrators acted out of pure criminal motives, not under foreign dictation.
Regarding US President Donald Trump's claims that an agreement has been reached between Kiev and Moscow to stop attacks on energy infrastructure, Anchev expressed skepticism:
"Ukraine is within its right not to trust Moscow. The Kremlin regime has no interest in de-escalation. President Trump's statement is more his wishful thinking than a real agreement.“
Anchev also described as propaganda the statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding the allegedly violated Anchorage agreements, recalling that Moscow is the one that brutally violated the Minsk Agreements and the Budapest Memorandum.
In conclusion, he warned that Russian hybrid propaganda in our country is extremely strong and takes advantage of such crises:
"Bulgarian society is being deceived by false idols that promise peace, which at best is "Russian peace". The Bulgarian state is almost helpless and has zero resistance against this malicious activity on social networks. The only antidote is maximum information from authoritative sources.“