Oleh Tsariov/ Twitter Tsariov
Oleh Tsariov is a former Ukrainian entrepreneur, collaborator, pro-Russian politician, and separatist. Since 2014, he has been the “speaker of the parliament” of the so-called “Novorossiya” – a union of the “DPR” and “LPR” groups controlled by Russia.
During the Maidan, he called for ” cleaning up” the capital’s main square and ” restoring order in the whole country.” On February 20, 2014, he fled to Russia.
At the height of the war in Donbas, he declared that there were allegedly no Russian troops.
After the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he declared that “three D’s await Ukraine – denazification, demilitarization, democratization.”
Then, Tsariov actively travelled with the Russian military in the occupied territories of the Kyiv region and recorded propaganda videos. In March 2022, he called on the head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, to surrender the city to the occupiers, but his request was refused.
In May 2022, he said that the captured fighters of the “Azov” regiment should “answer for the crimes committed and are not subject to exchange.”
*The material was created in cooperation with the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
Main statements
1. He stated that Ukraine needed denazification, and “the Ukrainian authorities support the Nazis” (February 23, 2022)
2. He stated that Russia was “liberating Ukraine from Nazis and fascists” (February 24, 2022)
3. He stated that Ukraine was awaiting denazification, demilitarization and democratization (February 25, 2022)
4. After the start of the full-scale war, he travelled through the occupied territories of the Kyiv region and claimed that “the Russian Federation will restore normal life there” (March 15, 2022)
5. He called on the Ukrainian military and law enforcement officers to surrender their weapons, and then supposedly there would be peace in Ukraine (March 16, 2022)
6. He called on the mayor of Kryvyi Rih, Yuriy Vilkul, to “surrender the city” to the occupiers (March 20, 2022)
7. He stated that “the president of Ukraine should be Putin” (March 23, 2022)
8. He said that Russia needed to capture all of Ukraine, including its western part (March 28, 2022)
