Arson of Leros's Car: Video Alleging Staged Attack, Investigation and Reaction of MP

Leros said the video is "the most cynical attempt to destroy his reputation."

The SBI said that a person resembling People's Deputy Geo Leros may be involved in setting fire to his car. 

The State Bureau of Investigation cited a video posted on Telegram. In the recording, a person resembling the MP allegedly "for a monetary reward is looking for accomplices to stage an attack on himself to create an illusion of threats." The video also reportedly discusses a "plan to use the situation as an informational pretext for further public appearances." 

In the video, the MP allegedly takes €60,000 from an unidentified person, and the conversation took place on July 24, 2020. After the video appeared, some political analysts began spreading it on social media with their own comments. 

Geo Leros said on Facebook that a "dirty campaign" had been launched against him in response to a scuffle with his colleague from Servant of the People, Mykola Tyshchenko, in the Verkhovna Rada. 

Geo Leros
People's Deputy

The sound in the video has been completely fabricated and 70% of the screen is blurred. I have simple questions for the authors of this "creation": is it possible that this video was recorded a year or a year and a half ago (given the video's topic), but was only released now? Could Zelensky's pack have endured for so long and finally "lost patience"? They are putting some inadequate words in my mouth, for which I would have been in prison long ago, but for some reason they waited for exactly this moment. 

According to him, the video's topic and sound were chosen not by chance; it is "the most cynical attempt to destroy his reputation." Leros said that on September 14 he will apply to law enforcement agencies and demand an assessment of the video. 

"It is obvious that this tool is aimed at distracting people from truly important events taking place in our state," the MP noted. 

Kyiv police said that they will add to the materials of the criminal case the video allegedly featuring Leros. Law enforcement officers promised to study the video in detail and carry out the necessary investigative actions and expert examinations. 

On August 28, 2020, Geo Leros said that his car had been set on fire: "My car was set on fire... Witnesses say the bang was heard in the apartment on the 14th floor. There is no doubt now, it was arson. Whoever did this, I will find you, you're celebrating too early." 

On March 29, 2020, Leros published a video in which Denys Yermak, brother of Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, allegedly discusses appointments to various public positions for money. The brothers deny involvement in corruption schemes. 

The MP then added that Zelensky bears personal responsibility for the persecution of civic activists, journalists and opposition organizations. On September 1, 2020, Geo Leros was expelled from the Servant of the People parliamentary faction. 

Later, on September 30, 2020, the MP said that Mykola Tyshchenko and Denys Komarnytskyi were preparing an attack on him. 

Geo Leros
People's Deputy

The other day an honest SBU officer gave me nearly six hours of recordings of a conversation between Mr. Denys Komarnytskyi, the "overseer" of Kyiv, and Mr. Mykola Tyshchenko. In this conversation they openly talk about how Zelensky protects them, how Yermak's brother-in-law helps him, and they also discuss how to carry out an attack on me and another people's deputy. I ask the National Police of Ukraine to treat my statement as an official report of a crime by Mr. Komarnytskyi, Mr. Tyshchenko and his brother-in-law Andriy Yermak. 

Although he noted that he had not received any direct threats from Tyshchenko and Komarnytskyi, they exist only on the recordings.