NABU and the Presidential Office's media talking points: what does the Church have to do with it?
Another scandal linked to corruption at the highest levels of power is erupting in Ukraine: NABU accuses Iryna Mudra, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office (PO), of money laundering and bribery of judges.
And this is far from the first such case among Ukraine's "untouchables." Before her, there were Vice Prime Minister Chernyshov, Minister of Justice Halushchenko, PO Head Yermak, the already notorious friend of Zelensky Tymur Mindich, and others.
However, we would like to draw attention to one detail from the latest accusation that has remained in the shadows.
NABU published media talking points seized during recent searches. The documents concern "anti-crisis" management related to the work of the Verkhovna Rada's Temporary Investigative Commission, but there is no doubt that similar instructions are distributed on any topic that the authorities need to present in the right light.
In the "Distribution of Roles" section, we were particularly struck by the mention of experts from the Razumkov Centre and the Institute of the Future as a "neutral voice" — with the quotation marks appearing in the talking points document itself. It follows that, according to the document, these organizations are not neutral at all — they simply voice whatever is handed down to them from above.
Why does this matter? Because the Razumkov Centre and the Institute of the Future regularly publish social research on church-related topics, according to which the OCU supposedly surpasses the UOC by nearly tenfold. The authorities and the OCU itself then present such statistics as a "scientific" fact, purportedly proving that the Ukrainian people do not support the UOC and favor its elimination.
Such is the simple scheme that was accidentally uncovered. And something tells us that in the future we are yet to learn much more of interest.
