NEW – June 8, 2022
Suddenly, it turned out that the defense of Severodonetsk is being led by… People’s Deputy and Head of the National Security and Defence Committee Mariyana Bezuglaya. She stands out so much from the other “servants of the people” [the name of Zelensky’s political faction – SZ] for her intellectual abilities that even her comrades in the faction call her “crazy”and “brainless”. However, not everything is so clear
Mariyana Vladimirovna Bezuglaya is only 34 years old, but she really plays an important role in the defence organisation system in Ukraine, and this is not only due to her work in the relevant committee of the parliament (rather, on the contrary, she got a place in the committee thanks to the mentioned role). At the same time, she has the fame of “Klitschko in a skirt”, saying such pearls as, for example: “Please do not ask specific questions, because we are talking directly about what is happening. When I answer one, two, or three questions — this is a kind of journalistic provocation.”
It is worth recalling the stages of the long journey of this funny but scary character of Ukrainian politics.
Bezuglaya has a specialised medical education — she graduated from the National Medical University in Kiev with a degree in “medical science” and the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy with a degree in “general practice – family medicine”. As a medic, her specialty is not military, and there is no information about her military rank in open sources. It is mentioned in a low voice that she is a “military doctor” and “was at the front” (in her own words, she was called up).
Much more interesting is that she graduated from the International Leadership Program of the US Department of State “Healthcare and marginalised populations” and received a specialisation in “Organisation and healthcare management”.
In itself, this is a signal that Bezuglaya is not a random character in Ukrainian politics. The days when people “from the street” could take part in grant programs are long gone, and only specially selected characters with a certain set of personal qualities get into the leadership programs of the State Department (brainlessness is the most innocent of them; Bezuglaya, for example, hates children and is considered a lesbian). In general, “Soros hatchling” describes people like Bezuglaya.
It is not surprising that a young lady with minimal work experience in a polyclinic ended up in the project office of reforms of the Ministry of Defence and became the head of the “Reform of the medical support system of the Armed Forces” program there. Position – Senior inspector for monitoring the execution of orders of the Civil Experts Department of the Center for Ensuring Official Activities of the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Force.
The reputable Telegram channel “Rybar” explains: “Civilian experts are representatives of the structures of the George Soros Foundation and the State Department, which carried out supervision and reforms in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. And Bezuglaya herself controlled the implementation of the directives of American structures in the Ukrainian army.”
In 2019, Bezuglaya was selected for the “Servant of the People” party under the “Lift” program. She was elected a People’s Deputy in the majority district No. 217 (Obolonsky district of Kiev), ahead of the conductor Lyudmila Kostenko from “European Solidarity” [Poroshenko’s political faction – SZ]. In general, the election of such a unique person as Bezuglaya in a single-mandate constituency was possible only against the background of mass support for “Servant of the People” and its representatives, whoever they were. At the same time, her team was accused of bribing voters, and a criminal case was even opened.
Bezuglaya, as deputy head of the relevant committee, was the author of the draft law on the creation of territorial defense. Apparently, it is created centrally. In Poland, for example, the territorial defence forces were created in 2016.
In 2021, Bezuglaya headed a temporary commission that investigated the reasons for the failure of the operation to deliver the “Wagner” soldiers detained in Belarus. It was she who reported on the progress of the investigation, heroically defending the Office of the President and Zelensky personally. By the way, there is a very subtle point here — it seems that for once loyalty to the president turned out to be more important than love for the United States (the “Wagner case” was designed by Western intelligence). On the other hand, it is hard to imagine Bezuglaya acting against the embassy’s direct ban.
In 2022, she submitted to the parliament a controversial draft law that lifted the ban on shooting soldiers who do not follow the orders of their commanders. This draft had to be withdrawn, although, according to military experts, the discovery of bound soldiers in Ukrainian positions who were shot in the back of the head is not such a rare phenomenon.
At the end of May, Bezuglaya took part in the harassment of a person close to Petro Poroshenko – the propagandist Yury Butusov: “If the Security Service of Ukraine does nothing about Yury Butusov, who constantly gives tons of information about our military, positions, operational situation with impunity, undermines, disorients and plays along with Russia, I believe that no gradual reform makes sense.” As a result, Butusov was banned from entering the frontline (by the way, he was completely banned – at least one instance was mentioned when the position he revealed was struck).
Here, by the way, is an interesting point — when Poroshenko was president, Butusov was in desperate conflict with the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff. Now, on the contrary, he defends the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff, accusing Zelensky of unprofessional management. Bezuglaya, accordingly, sided with the president in this conflict.
Why did the politician go to Severodonetsk? Because this is the point of political confrontation between the president and the military command (on the side of which Poroshenko stands).
According to the President, the agglomeration of Severodonetsk-Lisichansk should be kept at all costs in order to: a) maintain control over the “Lugansk region”; b) continue the practice of exhausting Russian troops, so that later, when reserves are prepared, they can deliver a decisive blow (given that Russia is fighting a peacetime army with a small reserve, the calculation is, in general, rational).
According to the commander-in-chief Valeria Zaluzhnogo a) the most motivated, trained and experienced part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is dying in the cauldrons (i.e. who exhausts whom is unclear); b) preserving the ghost of the “Lugansk region” is not worth such losses.
The already mentioned Butusov comments: “It is very annoying that some leaders decided to ‘strengthen’ the army by sending ‘commissars’ to certain areas. This is not conducive to professional decisions, and the interference of politicians in military management at the tactical level is incompetence.” Other authors recall the events of 2014, when the “field marshal” Gennady Korban (then – Deputy head of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional State Administration of Igor Kolomoisky, now the head of the regional defence staff) dismissed the military and personally led the assault on Ilovaisk. The anniversary of these events is still celebrated in Ukraine as a day of mourning.
By the way, Bezuglaya does not deny that she performs exactly commissar functions: “The initiative (to come to Severodonetsk – SZ) is personal, at the request of the military, relatives, an appeal: what is the moral and psychological state? Combat readiness? Commanders? Aspiration, ideas?”. It is hard to believe that she does not interfere in the military administration — the officers know that she is a “lookout” from the State Department and understand that it is better not to enter into conflict with her. By the way, with the arrival of Bezuglaya, the situation of the UAF grouping in Severodonetsk really improved — along with her came the militants of the “foreign legion”, who managed to suspend the offensive of the Russian troops. It was even reported that she personally “organised and led the attack” (hard to believe).
What does Bezuglaya’s trip mean in general?
Firstly, the extreme importance of Severodonetsk not only for Zelensky, but also for the US Embassy. The latter’s interest seems to coincide with the President’s.
Secondly, not only in the Office of the President, but also in the US Embassy, they are not sure of the loyalty of the top command staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Thirdly, both the Presidential Office and the US Embassy are interested in ensuring that Ukrainian troops suffer as many losses as possible.
Vasily Stoyakin
Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved.