Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky banned his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko.
Image: Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday banned his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, from leaving the country and barred his access to assets amid escalating infighting between the political rivals.
The sanctions approved by Zelensky coincided with a heated session in parliament in which allies of Poroshenko stormed the speaker's podium and forced an early end to the meeting to protest the moves.
The array of measures imposed against Poroshenko, who was Ukraine's president when Russian-backed separatists seized swathes of territory in the east of the country, are sweeping.
They apparently bar him from leaving Kyiv or Ukraine, prevent him from accessing his assets and mean he will not be allowed to appear in public broadcasts or use the internet.
"We are defending our country and restoring justice: everyone who destroyed Ukraine's national security and helped Russia must be held accountable," Zelensky said one day earlier announcing fresh measures that hit several former officials and businessmen.
"The billions that were earned by actually selling Ukraine, Ukrainian interests, and Ukrainian security must be blocked and must be used to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians," he added.
Poroshenko said earlier that he was aware of the pending sanctions, which he described as "politically motivated" and "illegal", and directly blamed the presidency.
"Zelensky has dealt a huge blow to internal unity, which our team has been strictly adhering to since February 2022 and which is our main weapon in the fight against the aggressor," Poroshenko, 59, said on social media.
Zelensky swept to victory in 2019 presidential elections beating Poroshenko by promising to end fighting with the Kremlin-backed separatists and stamp out systemic corruption among political elites.
Poroshenko, the leader of the opposition European Solidarity party, has recently been travelling outside Ukraine, apparently to shore up support for the embattled country.
Ukrainian media and members of parliament reported that members of Poroshenko's party crowded the rostrum during a session and shouted "shame" in protest of the sanctions, leading the session to be suspended after a few minutes.
AFP