The removal of Kiev’s coup-imposed authorities from power is the only way to restore peace and stability in Ukraine, opposition leader and ex-presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev told RT.
Tsarev has blamed Igor Kolomoisky, the Kiev-appointed
Dnepropetrovsk region governor and oligarch, for making
“quite a large” contribution to the current violence in
Ukraine.
He said it is Kolomoisky who is responsible for recruiting
nationalists into the National Guard and special police units,
which are now waging war in the country's southeast.
Tsarev, who spoke to RT during his visit to Moscow, said he has
information that “the National Guard fighters, who were
dressed in civilian clothes, participated in the events in
Odessa” – where at least 48 anti-Kiev protestors died on May
2 after radicals set fire to the Trade Unions House.
The MP also confirmed the authenticity of the leaked phone call from May 9, in which Kolomoisky said that he offered US$1 million for
Tsarev’s head.
“As I understand he didn’t want me to come to Lugansk and
Donetsk to take part in organizing the referendum,” he said.
Referendums in Lugansk and Donetsk regions took place on May 11,
two days after the phone call leak, with over 90 percent of
voters supporting independence from Kiev.
Tsarev, who was a self-nominee for the presidential election,
withdrew his candidacy from the race, as he believes “the vote
can’t be held when the army is on a reprisal raid against its own
people...and dozens die every day.”
With no candidate boasting support in both east and west
Ukraine, any president elected on May 25 will be “a
half-president,” he stressed.
“I called upon the current Ukrainian authorities to solve the
country’s problems first; carry out a constitutional reform,
disarm the militants, release over 400 of our activists from
prison on amnesty, and organize an election after that,” the
MP said.
But the coup-imposed authorities in Kiev are pushing to hold the
election “at any cost,” because they realize that
“their rating is falling” and now is their only chance
to succeed, he explained.
Tsarev assured that Donetsk and Lugansk regions won’t be taking
part in the Ukrainian election, adding that he has urged his
supporters around the country to follow their example.
The ex-presidential candidate has called Ukraine’s acting prime
minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk, “a great imitator” for
faking dialogue between the east and the west of the country.
“They gather their own representatives, who live in the
southeast, and hold roundtables with them,” Tsarev said,
adding that he and other actual leaders of protesters from the
east aren't invited to take part in the discussions.
“They’re basically talking to themselves...There’s no real
dialogue,” he added.
The opposition leader reminded that there are howitzers ready to
shell the protester stronghold city of Slavyansk in the Donetsk
region, with Kiev’s forces neglecting to provide a humanitarian
corridor for the civilians to evacuate in case of attack.
It’s “not realistic” to talk to the “murderers”
under such conditions, because dialogue between Kiev and
protestors in the southeast is only possible after the ceasefire
is agreed, he explained.
However, Tsarev stressed that the only obstacle to peace and
stability in Ukraine are the “current Nazi authorities of
Ukraine,” which must be removed from power.
He added that during his stay in Moscow, he has seen that the
Russian people have “largely accepted” the independence of
Donetsk and Lugansk regions from Ukraine.
Tsarev said the issue is not as simple when it comes to the
position of Russian authorities, because they are responsible for
Russia's fate – for economic sanctions which may be introduced
against Russia.
But the opposition leader stressed that protestors in eastern
Ukraine aren’t looking for independence from their compatriots in
the country's west.
“They just don’t want to be in the same country with the
current authority,” he said.
The Kiev regime chose to send the army against citizens in the
southeast because its rule is “based on fear,” he added.
“But it’s impossible to defeat the people by military
means,” Tsarev stressed. “The army doesn’t want to fight
against the people. In order to make the military obey orders,
they deployed Nazis there, who shoot at self-defense forces of
the Donetsk People’s Republic, and then fire at the soldiers, who
refuse to fight.”
“The number of casualties in the ranks of the Ukrainian
military has reached 1,000 people. And sooner or later...I think
sooner rather than later, the Kiev authorities will be held
responsible for the war crimes against their own people,” he
added.
Oleg Tsarev was previously a main figure in the Party of Regions
– the party of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who was
ousted by a nationalist-powered coup back in February.
A few weeks later, in April, he was registered as a presidential
candidate. Several days later, he was brutally beaten by radicals from the Right
Sector movement.
Tsarev is backing the idea of creating an independent Federal
Republic of Novorossia, following the lead of the Donetsk and
Lugansk regions, which revolted against the new Kiev authorities.