Wounded editor says the attempt was organized by someone from the presidential entourage.
Leading businessmen, politicians, and journalists are still under fire from hired assassins. On July 29 another name could have been entered in the death toll: Serhiy Odarych, President of the Ukrainian Perspective Fund, Editor-in-Chief of Kyiv's newspaper, We.
He was shot at and wounded just as he was about to enter his apartment house at 14 Berezniakivska about 12:30 a.m. The ambulance arrived quickly and delivered him to the City Emergency Hospital where surgery was immediately performed.
The Day met with him the next morning.
Q.: So what happened exactly?
A.: My wife Angela and I were returning home. It was late. Suddenly a tall neatly dressed man walked up to me, said he was a well-wisher and warned me that if I don't leave politics alone and quick I'll get killed. I said I didn't want to discuss it with him and we continued on our way. We had hardly walked a couple of feet when there was a shot. The bullet pierced my right thigh. I fell. My wife was with me, and my mother was at home, so they called the ambulance and the police. What surprised me was that the police from Kharkiv District Precinct came 2-3 minutes later, which is too quick in this country. An investigation is underway, but from what I know no spent cartridge was found on the scene.
I think the man was a pro. He was very polite and the fact that I am still alive is not accidental. He didn't mean to kill me. He wanted to scare me. Otherwise we wouldn't be talking now.
Q.: Who do you think ordered it?
A.: I and my team have only one opponent. President Kuchma. No one else. We regularly publish expose articles about him and his entourage. One of the latest was about the parliamentary committee of inquiry investing arms trading. We offered our own conclusions, comments, and we identified certain arms dealers. And they are all involved with the President, one way or the other. This issue had a print run of one million and we finished distributing it several weeks ago.
Q.: In other words, it was a political act, wasn't it?
A.: Absolutely. First, because they wanted me to quit politics. Secondly, because Ukrainian Perspective, as a benevolent association, does not control any large sums. We do not trade in gas or oil pipelines. In fact, we are not in the best of shape financially these days. We haven't been able to pay our workers for several months now.
Q.: Could this attempt be in any way connected with Yuri Orobets' campaign, with you acting as his agent?
A.: I don't think so. The campaign is being conducted very properly, without any excesses.
Q.: Are you scared? Will you hire bodyguards?
A.: Of course I am scared. Wouldn't you be? But no bodyguard will ever protect you from political attacks. The only way to survive is to put together a strong team which will stay on course no matter what, even if you get killed. I think I have such a team and they will be able to ward off such attacks.
Volodymyr Holdis, head of the First Emergency Ward, Ambulance Hospital, told The Day that Serhiy Odarych's condition was satisfactory and that the bullet had pierced soft tissue. All attempts to get any comments from the Kharkiv Precinct proved futile.
Photo by Oleksiy Stasenko, The Day:
The Day interviews Serhiy Odarych







