In Ukraine, an influential adviser to the Ukrainian presidency resigned on the morning of Tuesday, January 17, after a controversy following the destruction of a building in Dnipro on Saturday by a Russian missile. Oleksiy Arestovych said that the missile in question could have been hit and diverted by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense fire, comments immediately taken up by Russian propaganda.
With our correspondent in kyiv, Stephane Siohan
Oleksiy Arestovych is one of Ukraine’s most media personalities, a former soldier, he became a blogger, an influencer, and in 2020 he was appointed special adviser to Andriy Yermak, the number two in the Ukrainian state, on issues strategic communication in the field of national security.
Confusing analyzes
Almost every day, Arestovych teaches about the march of war on his Youtube and Telegram channels, attracting as many fans for his charisma as detractors for his sometimes confusing analyses. On Saturday evening, during a Youtube chat with Russian opposition lawyer Mark Feygin, Oleksiy Arestovych said that the missile which had just hit a Dnipro building bar may have been diverted from its trajectory by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defence.
The army staff immediately called Arestovych to order, stating that this type of missile was beyond the reach of the Ukrainian defense. The presidential adviser, meanwhile, took a volley of green wood in public opinion, because the Russian media took up his theory, blaming Ukraine for the tragedy.
Ego excessive
The omnipresent Oleksiy Arestovych pays above all for his imprudence, his personality as well as a ego excessive. But his resignation also highlights Ukraine’s difficulty in putting the right words on the real targets of Russian bombardments – often infrastructure – and on the collateral damage of the strikes on the population, as dramatic and revolting as they are.
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