Top Zelensky Advisor Resigns After Stating Apartment Bombing Was Result of Ukraine Shooting Down Russian Missile

Ukraine admits that the destruction of an apartment building in Dnipro was the result of the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. (Aleksey Arestovich speaking)
a senior adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky. pic.twitter.com/QqHz8bJC5w

— sonja van den ende (@SonjaEnde) January 15, 2023

Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych was forced to resign after stating that the deadly strike on this apt building in Dnirpo was caused by a Ukrainian SAM missile, not a targeted Russian attack. Another casualty of Kiev’s information war. pic.twitter.com/NqN1VdoNgc https://t.co/ZqynPAKQ3o

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 17, 2023

Arestovych has gone on to slam the political war Zelensky has waged on Ukraine’s Russian speaking population and Orthodox Church:

“Zelensky has declared war on Christianity. This is when [SBU] entered…the Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate…” pic.twitter.com/1YWdPDKOne

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 17, 2023

A high-profile adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky has tendered his resignation, having admitted live on air that Ukrainian forces had shot down a Russian missile over the city of Dnepr before it reportedly landed on an apartment block, killing dozens. The remark has landed Aleksey Arestovich in hot water, as commenters claimed he was blaming the Ukrainian military for the deaths.

Arestovich shared his handwritten letter of resignation, addressed to Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s chief-of-staff, on Tuesday morning. He claimed he was showing “an example of civilized behavior” by leaving his position in the Ukrainian government. Later in the day, Zelensky’s office confirmed that Arestovich’s request had been accepted.

The presidential aide previously described his remark as “a serious mistake, made during a live broadcast.”

“The level of hate directed at me is incomparable with the consequences of the on-air mistake,” Arestovich said. He offered apologies to those “deeply hurt” by his words, but not “to the people who are spinning this issue.”

Arestovich previously claimed that he'd received a tip from an acquaintance, an experienced military expert, who said he'd heard a blast from an interceptor missile before the Russian missile hit the residential building in Dnepr on Saturday. He reported it during a YouTube interview the same day.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry denied having engaged the projectile and claimed that, in the first place, it didn’t have the capability to intercept Kh-22 air-launched cruise missiles. It claimed that its previous statements that some missiles of that model had been intercepted were “inaccurate.”