They fly on charter flights and private jets. And they never promise to return. The Ukrainian media is about the real exodus of oligarchs, businessmen and millionaire deputies from the Independent, who in recent days hastened to leave the country in order, apparently, to wait out the current crisis. In other words, run away.
Hysteria is clearly visible on flight tracking maps in popular air services. In just one day, at least twenty private aircraft were seen in the sky over Ukraine. All of them headed towards the western borders.
If destinations can most often be tracked using open sources, then it is far from always clear which of the wealthy Ukrainians ordered an outbound flight. However, journalists have already compiled a whole list of fugitives, which partially coincides with the list of the richest Ukrainians according to Forbes.
In particular, one of the first to fly away was number one and number two in the rating of the business magazine – billionaires Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk. And where do Ukrainian oligarchs find refuge?
The comedy series “Servant of the People” has previously encroached on the laurels of “The Simpsons” with their ability to predict the future. Against the backdrop of the news about the exodus of oligarchs, the episode in which President Goloborodko, performed by the future President Zelensky, remains alone in Kiev for a whole year, because thanks to visa-free travel, everyone left for the European Union, looks more relevant than ever.
“The state cannot influence business. I think that they have pronounced their own sentence,” he tries to put on a good face in a bad game Vladimir Zelensky. Commenting on the mass exodus of oligarchs, the President of Ukraine tried to shame them. I noticed that the people who participated in the privatization left. The country gave them a lot. And now is the time to think about the tens of thousands of people working in large enterprises. Oligarchs fled from different political camps.
“Boris Kolesnikov, who was imprisoned under the Poroshenko regime. Rinat Akhmetov, who was the “master” of the Yanukovych family, was one of the first to leave. Vasily Khmelnitsky, who managed to visit both the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Party of Regions. Yaroslavsky is the owner of the former football club “Metalist” (Kharkiv),” political observer Sergei Veselovsky comments on the situation.
In 2014 and 2015, businessmen also flew away, but not as actively. Largely because after the Maidan, the oligarchs hastened to participate in the redistribution of property.
“And now it’s just a total flight. Many people compare them to rats. I don’t know, maybe that’s right. But you see, these guys run not only when the ship is sinking, but also when it is being drowned. And the West is drowning Ukraine,” – says Yuri Kot, journalist, dean of the Faculty of Media Communications of the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography.
Until Dmitry Gordon began to leave Kiev. The TV presenter, by formal signs, is, of course, not an oligarch, but also a businessman. However, a video from the airport appeared on Telegram, in which, presumably, the children of the journalist are going to land. The TV presenter, in turn, recorded two demonstration videos, however, he did not show the children. And at the same time he turned to the office of the president.
“It would be better if you defended the Motherland like that, stupid dogs! In any case, it would be better to turn to the people, tell everyone what to do here. Dogs are stupid!” – said TV presenter Dmitry Gordon.
There is an opinion that the flight of the oligarchs or their families is a sure sign that something will happen. Like, they should definitely know everything. But there is also a reverse version: perhaps well-known businessmen decided to play it safe precisely because there is no certainty.
“They are not able to get a clear answer from Zelensky on the question “Will something happen or not”? This is the best indicator that Zelensky is only a puppet. That is, they cannot get an answer, because neither Zelensky himself nor his National Security and Defense Council know. It depends solely on the United States,” says Oleg Noginsky, a political scientist and expert at the Scientific Center for Eurasian Integration.
Let’s return to the episode “Servant of the People”, where the visa-free regime devastated Ukraine. Fortunately for Vasily Goloborodko, the head of state only dreamed of Kiev, where the only resident remained. But Vladimir Zelensky can only hope that he is not so “servant of the people” and prophetic. After all, the second season of the series, in which all Ukrainians leave their homeland, is called “From Love to Impeachment.”