MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - Alleged participation of the Ukrainian President's son in the combat actions in the country's eastern regions is nothing but a publicity, stunt by the current Kiev authorities triggered by a failure of the special operation, experts interviewed by RIA Novosti believe.
"Before making such statements, the President of Ukraine should provide pictures or videos, but since he has not, there is nothing to talk about," the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems and Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov said.
On Friday, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said in an interview with CNN that his son Oleksiy Poroshenko (born 1985) is serving in Donbas and even commands one of the Ukrainian army's artillery units.
"Checking this fact is impossible, but if we even for a moment imagine that this is true – believe me, Poroshenko's son is given such a level of security that he would never get captured," Sivkov said.
According to the expert, Poroshenko's statements are aimed at increasing the president's own popularity. "When the citizens of a country are told that the leader's children are fighting alongside regular soldiers, it builds respect and trust to the ruling government," he stated.
Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Public Council under Russia's Ministry of Defense and Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense magazine, agreed with this viewpoint.
"How can Poroshenko's son lead an artillery unit when he is so young? At best, he could take part in the fighting as an ordinary soldier," he said, also noting that the Ukrainian president has failed to present any proof that Poroshenko jr. is indeed deployed in Donbas.
Korotchenko recalled how the media two months ago actively discussed the alleged dismissal of a military commissioner and two military enlistment office employees for summoning in former acting president Oleksandr Turchynov's son.
"None of the children of the current Ukrainian political elite have taken part in the operation that Kiev authorities have carried out against Donbas . . . The commissar, who sent a draft notice to Turchynov's son was transferred to the epicenter of the [war] just for daring to think that this young man could possibly serve," Korotchenko told RIA Novosti.
In April, Kiev launched its military operation against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine, who refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government after a February coup.
