The sparkling Eiffel Tower, expensive cars, big parties – if you look at the photos of Ivanna Plantovskaya, press officer of the Ukrainian border guard in Odessa, you might think that there would be no war. Your recent posts show a life of luxury, while a large part of the Ukrainian population has no electricity, no water and no warm housing. The anger in her homeland is correspondingly great.
The trip to Paris is not the only trip Plantovskaya has made since the outbreak of war. A photo in a bikini on the beach is followed by a photo in uniform in the middle of the war. The Ukrainians expected something different from an officer working at the border.
A wave of hate comments flooded her social media accounts. Plantovskaya has now made her Tiktok account private and deactivated her Facebook and Instagram profiles – but too late.
“A War Has Begun”
Screenshots of Plantovskaya’s photos are doing the rounds. The young woman is forced to respond and posts a screenshot with angry messages. She commented, “That’s only 0.00001 percent of the messages I get. Someone managed to start a war in the country.”
Some Ukrainians sided with Plantovskaya. After all, one cannot forbid leading a “beautiful” life. So while Ukrainians are fighting at the front, a war is raging on Plantovskaya’s Internet profiles.
For many Ukrainian citizens it is incomprehensible that Plantovskaya is allowed to go abroad on holiday. They wonder how she can afford such a glamorous life and whether it is appropriate to publish it in times of crisis.
“disrespectful and cynical”
The accusations could now target your superior Sergei Mulu, head of the Southern Directorate of the State Border Guard Service. Because, according to the Ukrainian portal “Strana-News”, searches were made on Mulu in November because he allegedly owned a villa that he had not registered. The allegations could not be confirmed.
There have been similar cases in the past that have caused a lot of resentment with all the consequences that entailed. In November, for example, an officer from Kharkov was on holiday in Nice and Monaco while the city was under fire. At the time, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said such messages were “cynical” and “disrespectful,” Strana-News writes. The officer was subsequently fired. (jwg)