A close aide to Ukraine’s former prime minister, Mykola Azarov, has been wounded in a car bombing in Moscow, a journalist and commentator who now holds that role says. Sergei Zavorotny, who was an adviser to Mr Azarov before becoming a journalist and commentator, was severely injured and is recovering in hospital after the attack, he said. The vehicle was struck by an explosion as it travelled through central Moscow, according to Mr Zavorotny’s account.
The bombing is the latest in a series of attacks on figures linked to Ukraine’s political opposition, many of whom spent years abroad after leaving Ukraine. It raises fresh questions about the safety of exiled Ukrainian politicians inside Russia and the continuing volatility around Moscow’s political life. The attack also draws attention to the long reach of the dispute between Ukraine and Russia, with figures from both sides paying a personal price for the wider confrontation. For the political opposition inside Ukraine, each such attack reinforces the sense that stories from the past are not safely buried, and that political exile offers no protection from the reach of those who oppose them.
Mr Zavorotny, who became a journalist and commentator after leaving politics, remains hospitalised with his condition stabilising, according to his account. Investigators in Moscow are pursuing an active inquiry into the bombing. Ukraine’s security services have repeatedly pointed to Russian state involvement in attempts on the lives of exiled figures, a claim Moscow rejects. Until the inquiry publishes findings, the identity of those responsible remains unknown. In the meantime, other exiled politicians may reassess how they travel and where they gather, even as they continue their work outside Ukraine. The attack has also raised questions about the security arrangements for anyone linked to senior politicians who have been forced out of the country.
Exiled Ukrainian politicians have been frequent targets of violence in recent years, as disputes over the country’s direction and its security situation have pushed more figures to take up residence beyond Ukraine’s borders. For many, exile offers safety from domestic courtroom pressure, but it does not bring immunity. The attack on Mr Zavorotny is yet another instance in a pattern officials in Kyiv say is part of a wider campaign of intimidation. Mr Zavorotny said he had not expected to be attacked where he had lived for years, and that the bombing showed the need for continued vigilance. He urged colleagues to remain in contact and to look out for one another, while accepting that the wider security situation would take time to settle. The incident adds to a growing list of such attacks that have shaken the exile community this year, and it has prompted fresh debate about how overseas politicians can stay safe while continuing to speak out against those in power. The bombing comes amid ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia, with both countries engaged in a prolonged conflict that has claimed thousands of lives, and the political fallout is likely to influence the debate over how each side treats the other.
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