By James Bradley and Flor Blanco, Image from video by Anatoly Shariy
JANUARY 13, 2025 (Updated February 2, 2025)—In a candid interview, exiled Chair of the Ukrainian Constitutional Court, Aleksander Tupitsky, shares his plight against Zelenskyy’s authoritarian regime. Even in exile, Tupitsky remains a stalwart contender of the Zelenskyy administration. Tupitsky’s recent court filings shake Zelenskyy’s iron clad grip over Ukraine. Tupitsky’s testimony spotlights Zelenskyy’s massive overreach of power, even questioning Zelenskyy’s current role as president. To Tupitsky, Zelenskyy’s presidency most likely expired in May 2024. As a constitutionalist, Tupitsky acknowledges the clause in Ukraine’s constitution banning the Ukrainian president from stopping presidential elections, even during martial law, as mentioned in a prior article from Uncensored Beat.
After holding position as chair in the high court for thirteen years, Tupitsky’s role was threatened when the Ukrainian Constitutional Court deemed the Land Marketing Laws in 2020 as unconstitutional. While Tupitsky waited for the administration to meet and collaborate with the court, Zelensky’s minions retaliated with bribery allegations claiming that Tupitsky engaged in the very corruption he worked so hard to end. Scandal ensued across the media, questioning Tupitiky’s integrity as chair. Media portrayed the court as blocking criminal liability for inaccuracies in asset declarations. Soon the Ukrainian Chief of Staff, Andrew Yermak, was calling for Tupitsky’s resignation.
The plot to target Tupitsky deepened as his unfavorability with Zelenskyy’s administration grew. The court procedure to disclose energy assets and earnings used by the NACP1 was unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court also blocked Zelenskyy’s administration from combining the independent US controlled NABU2 and the Ukrainian SBI.3 The court deemed the merger would establish a biased monopoly of power. NABU was birthed from work with the US. Ambassador Kristina A. Kvien led diplomatic missions and met with Tupitsky regarding concern of how US taxpayer dollars were spent. However, Zelensky upended the high court’s authority, merged the two groups anyway, and did so without pushback from the US.
By 2022, Tupitsky claims that Zelenskyy’s head of the SBU4, Ivan Bakanov, doctored records asserting Tupitsky was a threat to national security. Tupitsky states that not too long afterward evidence was planted to tag him a Russian infiltrator. Interestingly, the scenario paralleled the stories of Oleg Kulinich and Vladimir Sivkoyvich, who were among the six “Russian infiltrators” allegedly causing the Russian occupation of Ukraine in Feb 2022. Plus, Kulinich and Sivkoyvich, like Tupitsky were involved in supporting anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine that were driven by the US, especially during Trump’s initial term as mentioned in prior articles by Uncensored Beat.
Then, Zelenskyy announced a decision to rescind Tupitsky’s appointment from office made thirteen years prior, well-before Zelenskyy’s term. Expulsion of a judge of Tupitsky’s tenure could only be done by agreement between the Ukrainian Judiciary arm of the government and the Ukrainian Administration, if it were legitimate. Yet, Zelenskyy’s autocratic decision was honored. Tupitsky viewed the move as Zelenskyy’s hand acting to cripple the Constitutional Court, which is the only court that could decide upon whether Zelenskyy’s presidential term ended in May 2024.
This crucial decision is still in limbo because Zelenskyy has slow-walked the effort to fill absent seats in the Constitutional Court. As a result, the court does not have enough participants to have a quorum. The condition of the court also delays any efforts to stop US funds to a potentially illegitimate ruler.
Persecuted, Tupitsky fled to Austria for refuge. Like others, such as Andriy Derkach and Vladimir Sivkoyvich, US sanctions on Tupitksy were broadcast across the media despite no sanction data listed on the US Treasury Department website. Like others, the sanctions deterred interaction with Tuptisky and prevented sympathy over his plight from Zelenskyy.
The Cases Against Zelenskyy
To silence Tupitsky, Zelenskyy’s administration sought to extradite him from Austria. Tupitsky filed clemency with the Austrian Supreme Court and won. Zelenskyy’s extradition request was removed. Zelenskyy retaliated with an attempt on Tupitsky’s life by poisoning him with mercury, from which Tupitsky survived.
Tupitsky is gaining more sympathies with other courts, strengthening the criminal allegations against Zelenskyy. This includes the approved case to re-instate his position as Chair of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine filed with the Ukrainian Supreme Court. It also includes a case filed with the European Court of Human Rights to sue Zelenskyy for ruining Tupitsky’s reputation. That case is still pending.
What This Means for the US
Prior articles published in Uncensored Beat discuss US federal requirements for offering foreign aid, and specific conditions that must be met by former Soviet Union satellites, like Ukraine. Such requirements include but are not limited to preservation of democratic institutions, human rights, and freedom of religion. If victorious, Tupitsky’s efforts may be the nail that secures the coffin of Zelenskyy’s criminality and his time as President. While Tupitsky stoically continues with his crusade to secure his reputation and re-build the ruins of the judicial integrity that Zelenskyy continues to burn, the US funds this tyranny. Will the US stop financing Zelensky’s criminal regime, which is steeped in corruption and lies? Instead of spending American taxpayers’ money for the good of the American people, why is it sent to Ukraine without regard?
Notes:
1. Ukrainian National Assoc. of Corruption Prevention
2. National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine
3. State Bureau of Investigations
4. Ukrainian Security Bureau