Latest show producer appointed as national security adviser

Maksym Tkachenko
became on Oct. 23 the second member of the 95 Kvartal entertainment company
appointed this week to a national security post by Ukrainian President
Zelensky, who founded the eponymous comedy troupe in 2003. Tkachenko, who
launched the Kvartal Kontsert subsidiary of the Studio Kvartal 95 production
company, will serve as an adviser to the secretary of the National Security and
Defense Council on the reintegration and renewal of Donbas. Tkachenko handled
the production of live concerts in Ukraine. Serhiy Syvokho, the creative
producer for 95 Kvartal, was appointed to the same adviser position on Oct. 21.

“I propose not
rushing to conclusions, hype or hate. Soon you’ll see everything and then we
will be able to discuss matters constructively,” Syvokho wrote on his Facebook
page on Oct. 21. The harsh reaction against his appointment is because “it
hurts that there aren’t simple solutions” to the war in Donbas “and everyone is
already tired of hoping and waiting.” Syvokho stressed he will only be
responsible for humanitarian policy and “for work with people and meanings.”

Zenon Zawada: Fortunately or unfortunately, we don’t
expect efforts to resolve the war in Donbas will even reach the point of these
two show producers implementing their policies on changing narratives and
meanings. The Zelensky administration seems to continue to lack the
understanding that conquering Ukraine is a geopolitical necessity for Russian
President Putin, not only in establishing his historical legacy as Russia’s
post-Soviet tsar and savior, not only in securing Russia’s near-abroad, but
also to justify the political isolation and economic losses that Russia has
endured for five years. In fact, a strategy of overthrowing Putin by reaching
the minds of Russians might be more effective at this point than negotiating an
end to the warfare in Donbas, which might also be behind these appointments.

Zelensky has been
drawing personnel from his 95 Kvartal staff because they’re people he’s
familiar with and can trust. He figures that they can’t be any worse than the
standard corrupt bureaucrats, which is probably correct. He also thinks they
will offer out-of-the-box solutions for a region they are intimately familiar
with. (Both Syvokho and Tkachenko are Donbas natives.) Other appointments from
the 95 Kvartal entourage are Yulia Metzger, who was appointed in July by
Zelensky to the supervisory board of Privatbank, and Serhiy Borzov, who was
appointed in August as head of the State Affairs Administration. At least three
95 Kvartal employees were elected to parliament in July.