Mykhailo Podolyak

Mykhailo Mykhailovych Podolyak ( uk, Михайло Михайлович Подоляк; born February 16, 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and negotiator, serving as the adviser to the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In 2022, he became one of the representatives of Ukraine at Russian-Ukrainian peace negotiations during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Early life

Podolyak spent his childhood in Lviv and Novovolynsk.

From 1989, he lived in Belarus, and graduated from the Minsk Medical Institute.

Journalist career

Deportation from Belarus

In 2004, Podolyak was deputy editor-in-chief of the opposition Belarusian newspaper Vremya. In June 2004, officers of the KGB of Belarus came to his house and gave him half an hour to collect his things. The Belarusian authorities accused Podoliak that his activities "contradict the interests of state security", and the materials contain "slanderous fabrications about the real situation in the country, calls to destabilize the political situation in Belarus".

In Ukraine

In 2005, Podolyak was the editor-in-chief of ''Ukrainska Hazeta''. In June, the publication published his article "The Last Supper": it concerned the poisoning in 2004 of the then presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. The material was a journalistic investigation presented in an artistic form.

In 2006, Podolyak began working with Ukrainian internet publication Obozrevatel as a freelancer. At the same time, he became an adviser to the owner of the publication, Chairman of the State Committee for Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship, Mykhailo Brodskyy. In December 2011, Podoliak became the editor-in-chief of Obozrevatel.

Political career

In April 2020, Podolyak became an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak directly. In addition, he prepares ministers of the Ukrainian government for broadcasts in the media so that their theses are coordinated with the content promoted by the president.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 25 February, as the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Podolyak and prime minister Denys Shmyhal briefed the media. In the early days, the Russian armed forces failed to significantly advance deep into the territory of Ukraine due to Ukrainian defenses. On 26 February, the Office of the President of Ukraine alleged that the advance of the Russians had stopped due to “huge losses” allegedly inflicted by the Ukrainian army.

On 28 February, the first round of Ukrainian-Russian negotiations took place on the territory of Belarus. Podolyak, as part of the Ukrainian delegation, participated in both this and subsequent rounds of meetings and became the main speaker of Ukraine during the negotiations. At the same time, according to him, the key demands, uncompromising for Ukraine, are: a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops to the positions they occupied before 24 February, and security guarantees.

''“Our position at the negotiations is quite specific — legally verified security guarantees; ceasefire; withdrawal of Russian troops. This is possible only with a direct dialogue between the heads of Ukraine and the Russian Federation.”'' — said Podolyak in an interview with PBS. ''“There are some concessions that we definitely aren’t going to make,”'' he said. ''“We cannot give away any territories.”''

After the discovery of Russian war crimes in Bucha in April 2022 Podolyak was worried that the occurrence would complicate ceasefire discussions with Russia.

On 22 May 2022, after Russia captured the Azovstal steelworks and took full control of Mariupol, Podolyak ruled out ceasefire talks with Russia and would not accept any deal that ceded territories to Russia. Around 20,000 people were killed in Mariupol since the Russian invasion began.

On 9 June 2022, Podolyak stated to the BBC "that between 100 and 200 Ukrainian troops are being killed on the front line every day."

On 17 June 2022, Podolyak was interviewed by ''France24'' in the wake of the visit of a day after the visit of the Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Mario Draghi and Klaus Iohannis to Kyiv and Irpin. He stressed that Ukraine could win the war in three to six months if it were to obtain heavy weapons.

On 9 August 2022, Podolyak told the BBC: "In short, in my opinion, it’s impossible o return to the March 2022 Istanbul communiqué The emotional background in Ukraine has changed very, very much. We have seen too many war crimes live. Ukrainian society will probably not agree because will understand that if Russia bears no responsibility for these crimes, they will continue in one form or another in the territory of Ukraine. Therefore, the communiqué that was proposed in Istanbul should undergo a certain upgrade." On the same day he said he had deduced the Putinite strategy of wartime negotiation.

On 10 August 2022, Spanish daily ''El Pais'' elicited a comment in interview from Podolyak that if a single point of conflict with Russia remains , it will be an unfinished war.

In an in-depth 16 August 2022 interview with ''The Guardian'' Podolyak said the current aim of the Ukrainians was "to create chaos with Russian forces", specifically targeting supply lines and Crimea. According to him, "there was no prospect of Russia negotiating seriously until it experienced a defeat on the battlefield." He added that the tactics of the opponents differed: "a Ukrainian counteroffensive looks very different. We don’t use the tactics of the 60s and 70s, of the last century." Rather, "by striking at the invaders’ supply lines deep into occupied territories.. hestrategy is to destroy the logistics, the supply lines and the ammunition depots and other objects of military infrastructure."

On 19 August a Ukrainian source quoted Podolyak as follows: "Negotiations with Russia are a game of Russian roulette with a full cylinder and a fatal ending for everyone. This is a continuation of war, terror, and criminal blackmail."

In August 2022 when Hungarian-based Wizz Air announced that it would restart flights between Moscow and Abu Dhabi in the midst of the Russian invasion of its neighbour, Podolyak tweeted: "Cynics Wizz Air decided that Ukrainians’ blood does not smell, but Russian rubles from Moscow flights smell nice. Soon they realized that supporting barbarians is not about profit, but about destroyed reputation."

On 24 August 2022, Ukraine saw its thirty-first anniversary and the sixth month mark since the beginning of the invasion. Podolyak rejected a "congratulatory" message from Alexander Lukashenko, the disputed President of Belarus and an ardent supporter of Russia.




Podolyak called Lukashenko's message cynical and disingenuous given Belarus' heavy involvement in the attacks of Ukraine, and asserted that "this blood-soaked clowning is recorded and will have consequences."

Recognition

, Podolyak was listed in third place in a ranking of the 100 most influential Ukrainians according to ''Focus'' magazine.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Podolyak, Mykhailo
1972 births
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Ukrainian politicians
Ukrainian journalists
Belarusian journalists
Ukrainian emigrants to Belarus
21st-century journalists
Presidential advisors
Belarusian State Medical University alumni