MP Siumar claims Portnov first introduced basis for sanctions against Poroshenko back in 2019
Member of Parliament from the European Solidarity faction Viktoria Siumar believes that the basis for the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine's sanctions decision against Ukraine's fifth president (2014–2019), MP and European Solidarity leader Petro Poroshenko, was originally introduced in 2019 by former Ukrainian politician and lawyer Andriy Portnov, who was killed in Spain on May 21. This was reported on the political party's official website.
"In Portnov's Telegram channel from 2019, we found a post that completely replicates the premise of the 2025 NSDC sanctions against Poroshenko," Siumar said during a broadcast on Radio Svoboda.
According to her, after returning to Ukraine in 2019, Portnov sought revenge against participants of the Revolution of Dignity and against Poroshenko personally – in part for the sanctions imposed on the Yanukovych regime, the confiscation of assets, investigations, and court sentences. "In 2019, Portnov wrote a post alleging Poroshenko's involvement in the Kharkiv Accords – an absolute absurdity. And in 2025, this narrative is practically repeated word-for-word in the sanctions and related documentation," the MP said.
Siumar also noted that MPs from other factions have yet to sign onto the initiative to form a parliamentary temporary investigative commission (TIC) to probe Portnov's influence on Ukraine's judicial and law enforcement systems – an initiative launched by European Solidarity a week ago. "A certain number of signatures is needed to gather 150 votes in favor of establishing the TIC. It will happen… But when we asked our colleagues from other factions, not a single MP signed. We are currently working to collect these signatures," she said.
As reported, Portnov was killed on May 21 in the Madrid suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcón. He was shot in the back as he was about to get into his Mercedes parked on the sidewalk. Spain's National Police have issued a search warrant for three individuals suspected of involvement in the killing. The judge overseeing the investigation has ordered the proceedings to remain confidential.
On June 2, Iryna Gerashchenko, co-chair of the European Solidarity faction in the Verkhovna Rada, announced that the faction had initiated the creation of a temporary investigative commission to examine Portnov's influence over the judiciary and law enforcement agencies. The faction is awaiting representatives from all parliamentary groups to join the commission.
On February 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree enacting the NSDC decision from February 12, 2025, "On the Application of Personal Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions)." According to the annex to the document, sanctions were imposed on five individuals: Petro Poroshenko; Ihor Kolomoisky; former Finance and Credit Bank owner Kostiantyn Zhevaho; former PrivatBank co-owner Hennadiy Boholiubov; and former MP Viktor Medvedchuk.
Poroshenko has challenged the sanctions in Ukraine's Supreme Court. The case began on April 17 in the presence of Ukrainian MPs as well as diplomats from the European Union delegation and embassies of Germany, Poland, Austria, Sweden, Lithuania, and Denmark. Poroshenko's representatives argue that the sanctions were unlawfully imposed on a Ukrainian citizen residing in Ukraine – with Russia being the only party labeling him a "terrorist." Therefore, they claim, there is no legal basis under Ukrainian law for such sanctions.
