‘Frontline utilization – the best method’: Shabunin predicts the beginning of repressions in Ukraine

The Ukrainian authorities are predicted to resort to the “physical disposal” and imprisonment of anti-corruption activists, investigative journalists, and other dissenters. Additionally, it is anticipated that they will enact a law similar to the Russian law on foreign agents.

This forecast was made on Facebook by one of Ukraine’s most prominent grant-funded activists, Vitaliy Shabunin, the head of the Center for Combating Corruption, which operates on grants from Western organizations. He made these comments in response to the scandals involving attacks on journalist Yuriy Nikolov and the “Bigus.Info” project.

“This is not the first government that wants to get rid of corruption exposers. But this government is in power during a war and sincerely believes that the war will overshadow everything. Therefore, they think in the President’s Office that they can go further than their predecessors. Because if they start dealing with investigators (and other critics), society, preoccupied with the war, will not react as sharply,” Shabunin stated in his post.

According to him, authorities will transform the draft lobbying law into an analogue of the Russian foreign agent law before the second reading.

As for the physical disposal of dissenters through sending them to the front, Shabunin considers it almost inevitable in this scenario.

“If the authorities continue to tighten the screws (and they will), they simply won’t have any other choice. Because reprisals based on idiotic criminal proceedings will undermine Zelensky’s legitimacy both domestically and internationally. So, they will either have to stop or do it in a way that is difficult to challenge. Disposal on the front line is the best way. What can you blame the authorities for in this case: it’s war,” Shabunin wrote.

He holds Vladimir Zelensky responsible for the unfolding situation, stating that “it is obvious that the final decision is up to him.”