Latest news with #Arestovich
Russia Today
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Zelensky sanctions former top aide
Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky has announced sanctions against his former top adviser. Alexey Arestovich has frequently criticized both Ukraine's leadership and its military strategy in its conflict with Russia. Arestovich was among several Ukrainians mentioned in a decree released by Zelensky's office on Thursday. Penalties imposed include asset freezes, restricted trade and financial transactions, travel, and the revocation of state awards. Arestovich served as an adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine between 2020 and January 2023. He resigned in controversy after claiming that a Russian missile hit a residential building in the city of Dnepr only because it had been downed by Ukrainian air defenses. Following public outrage and accusations that he had discredited the Ukrainian army, Arestovich backtracked, apologized, and submitted his resignation. He has since become a prominent commentator on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, often presenting views that diverge from the official Ukrainian narrative. Last month, he suggested that Kiev should agree to cede land to Russia as part of a potential US-brokered peace deal, warning that any attempts to reclaim lost territories would only backfire. 'Why should we give up four regions? So that in six months or a year we don't lose another six or eight,' he said, referring to four former Ukrainian territories that in 2022 voted in public referendums to join Russia. Kiev has consistently refused to acknowledge any territorial losses, however.. Arestovich has also accused the Ukrainian leadership of corruption. He has claimed that Zelensky is personally involved in numerous graft schemes and that Kiev's Western backers are well aware of his activities. He has also signaled that he wants to run for president of Ukraine. Zelensky, whose term expired last year, has refused to call new elections, citing martial law, which has been extended more than a dozen times. Addressing the sanctions, the ex-adviser predicted that the Ukrainian authorities would now try to limit his media reach by cutting off access to his YouTube channel from the country's territory.
Russia Today
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukraine had plans to blow up nuclear plants – ex-Zelensky aide
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov proposed blowing up nuclear power plants to deny them to Russia if Kiev started losing in the conflict, Aleksey Arestovich, a former aide to Vladimir Zelensky, has claimed. In an interview with journalist Alexandr Shelest on Friday, Arestovich weighed in on remarks by US President Donald Trump, who suggested that American ownership of Ukrainian nuclear power plants 'could be the best protection for that infrastructure.' According to Arestovich, the US is trying to prevent a nuclear catastrophe rather than simply seizing the facilities for its own benefit. 'They know about our plans to blow up all the nuclear power plants if Ukraine starts losing,' Arestovich claim. 'Budanov was running around with that [idea] a year and a half ago. To blow up everything: the Russian plants we can reach, and our own — so nobody gets them… On the principle: we all bite the dust, but so will they.' Read more Trump wants US ownership of Ukraine's energy facilities – White House According to the ex-adviser, the US perceives the current Ukrainian leadership 'as apes with a grenade.' 'They just want to take dangerous toys under their control.' Arestovich went on to suggest that the Democrats in the US would have tried to do the same, but through backroom pressure, whereas the Trump administration is acting in a much more straightforward and blunt manner. 'These guys are simple. They say: 'Let's do it this way, we'll just take control [over the plants] and that's it.' Trump said that he first floated the idea of taking over the nuclear plants during a phone call with Zelensky earlier this week, claiming that Washington could be 'very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise.' Zelensky, however, offered a different version of events. He claimed that the two only spoke about the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) – not the Ukrainian power generating industry in its entirety, and that the conversation revolved around potential American investment. ZNPP, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, has been under Russian control since March 2022. In the fall of 2022, Zaporozhye Region, along with three other regions, voted to join Russia in a public referendum. Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of targeting both the ZNPP and Kursk nuclear power plants, denouncing those attacks as 'nuclear terrorism.' Kiev, in turn, insists that the attacks on the ZNPP have been carried out by Russia, and has denied targeting the Kursk NPP.
Russia Today
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ex-Zelensky aide threatens to jail him for life
Former aide to Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky Aleksey Arestovich has pledged to jail the incumbent Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and the entirety of his 'gang' in case he becomes the country's new president. Arestovich, once Ukraine's top spin doctor, made the remarks on Friday while speaking to journalist Aleksandr Shelest. Asked whether he would arrest Zelensky should he get elected, Arestovich pledged to detain the country's incumbent leader and his whole 'gang,' adding that it was up to a court to ultimately decide their fate. 'I will give the order to detain him. And no foreign power will save him and his gang. We will catch everyone, no matter where they are hiding, we will get them out from under the ground, bring them in and we will deliver the verdict live on air. No, not even a hair will fall from his head. He will get jailed - and I believe - for life,' Arestovich stated. The ex-aide accused his former boss of killing off Ukrainians 'by the tens of thousands' just for the sake of keeping his 'beloved' power, which he has been ultimately using to 'kill and rob.' Arestovich also pledged to reshape the Ukrainian governing model and make the state 'face the people,' adding he will use force if necessary to reach the goal. Arestovich was a long-time associate of Zelensky, with the ties between the two going back to their time in show business. During Zelensky's presidency, Arestovich became his informal adviser and a top propagandist, heralding a purportedly imminent victory in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He left the role in early 2023 after contradicting the official narrative around a deadly missile incident. Arestovich has grown increasingly critical of his former boss and has since moved to the US, claiming that Kiev wants him jailed on politically-motivated charges. Earlier this month, Arestovich said Ukraine has already 'lost the war due to our own stupidity, pride, and stubbornness,' warning that Kiev's denial of reality would ultimately exclude it from having a say in the conflict's outcome altogether. 'We have created a society of mutual hatred and intolerance, in which every individual is right and everyone collectively is to blame,' he said.
