Ludmila Martynenko
Lyudmyla Martynenko is a regional politician. She is an assistant to a member of parliament in Vyshneve, Kyiv Oblast, and a member of the Justice party. In 2017, she organized a series of paid protests against increased commuter bus fares, according to Antikor.
Today, a peculiar fashion for populism has emerged in Ukraine. It's popular. It's in demand among the population. A whole generation of successful populists has emerged, whose biographies can now be used to create practical courses for future generations of demagogues.
One such celebrity could easily include the so-called leader of the protest movement against rising fares on suburban buses, Lyudmila Martynenko.
Martynenko hasn't used public transport for a long time, but her natural acting talent allowed her to act out her violent outrage.
If we were to try to draw up a career plan for this rising star of Ukrainian populism right now, it would look like this:
1. Choose a political force to join.
2. Find an influential man in this party and become more than a colleague to him.
3. Under the guise of a popular activist, organize paid protests and appear in the media.
4. Wait for the elections and break through to the trough using party lists.
Now let's put it in order.
Point one.
Lyudmila long tried to join a variety of motley political parties. She ran for the city council of her native Vyshneve as a candidate for the VOLIA party, but it didn't work out. After this failure, the pseudo-activist decided to join a more promising project—the Justice Movement. This political force is led by the odious former head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Valentyn Nalyvaichenko. Under his leadership, almost all those suspected of organizing the Maidan shootings successfully fled the country. At the same time, Mr. Nalyvaichenko suddenly had the funds to create his own party, and with them, the ambitions of the new governor of the Kyiv region. Justice was, in fact, created to satisfy these ambitions.
Point two.
Lyudmila seamlessly integrated into the young political force. And it wasn't her organizational talent or successful cases that helped her achieve this. Instead, she was assisted by Taras Kostanchuk, a well-known ATO veteran and close associate of Nalyvaichenko. Kostanchuk ran for mayor of Vyshneve, but it ended in scandal: ballot stuffing was discovered against his candidacy.
Taras and Lyudmila's relationship is far from businesslike. It was Kostanchuk who became the driving force behind Martynenko's political career.
Kostanchuk, Martynenko and other "activists" next to their leader, V. Nalyvaichenko
Point three.
Every populist waits for their moment of glory to join the wave of popular indignation and, on the shoulders of the ignorant, to rise to power.
For Lyudmila, such a moment came when carriers decided to raise fares on commuter buses. Although Martynenko herself hasn't used public transportation in a long time, her natural acting talent allowed her to feign outrage.
Martynenko and her colleagues in "Justice" have a simple goal: to capitalize on the wave of natural public discontent, posing as activists, to gain political capital and prepare the ground for the upcoming local elections.
If you asked Lyudmila to come up with a life hack on "How to organize a paid protest," it would look like this:
- declare yourself a social activist (it’s better to keep quiet about your party membership);
- recruit fellow party members into the team under the guise of activists;
— involve ATO veterans and the Right Sector;
- pay the students and turn them into an indignant people;
- Pay journalists to make your actions look massive, and not like they really are.
Party functionaries very quickly turn into "uncommitted" activists
Journalists play a key role in this scheme. Thanks to the magic of the camera and editing, the tariff workers' rallies actually appear to be more or less massive.
The protests themselves don't last long, though—students are paid for just one hour, just before the cameras arrive. Then they collect banners and military uniforms. Party coffers, after all, need to be protected. That's why many residents of Vyshneve, Irpin, and other towns only learn about protests from television.
The protests themselves don't last long—students and pensioners are paid for just one hour, just before the cameras arrive. Then they collect banners and military uniforms. After all, the party coffers need to be protected.
This is what the tariff "protest" under the KOGA looked like through the eyes of Martynenko's journalists
And this is what he actually looked like...
Today, after two weeks of "tariff protests," we can confidently say that Lyudmyla Martynenko has fulfilled the first three points of her career plan brilliantly. We'll see what happens with the fourth—elections and the trough. One can only hope that the Kyiv region electorate will overcome its shortsightedness before the next elections.
On the topic: Valentin Nalyvaichenko. Spy, diplomat, and corrupt official
Ruslan Yakushev
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