As his country has been at war with Russia since February 2022, a Ukrainian lawmaker was spotted in the Maldives on vacation. He subsequently resigned.
Volodymyr Zelensky denounced on Tuesday the “betrayal” of a lawmaker who was recently seen on vacation at a luxury hotel in the Maldives, while the Ukrainian president frequently emphasizes the need for exemplary behavior from political leaders during the ongoing war with Russia.
According to the news website Slidstvo.info, Yuri Aristov, a 48-year-old lawmaker from the presidential party “Servant of the People,” was spotted in mid-July at a five-star hotel in the Indian Ocean archipelago. Following these press revelations, David Arakhamia, the head of the presidential group in Parliament, stated in a communiqué on Tuesday that he had called for the “immediate suspension” of the lawmaker from his parliamentary group. “I have requested all documents regarding official trips and that all information be verified,” he also said.
The lawmaker resigns The President of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, revealed that he had received a letter of resignation from Yuri Aristov, who is also Vice President of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense, and intelligence, a role of strategic importance. “This will be evaluated during the next plenary session of Parliament,” he emphasized, without providing further details.
President Zelensky explicitly referred to the matter in the evening, stating that preferring “islands and resorts in times of war” is “a betrayal of the principles of the State.” “Any internal betrayal, any ‘beach’ or personal enrichment instead of (defending) Ukraine’s interests will, at the very least, provoke rage,” he stressed in his daily address, with a stern expression. “You must work in Ukraine and for the interests of the Ukrainian people,” he urged lawmakers, officials, and other state agents.
