Independent adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, Oleksiy Arestovych, has written a resignation letter after his scandalous statement regarding a rocket attack on a high-rise building in Dnipro.

The OPU councilor admitted his mistake and apologized to the residents of Dnipro. 

"I wrote a resignation letter. I want to show an example of civilized behavior: a mistake in principle, therefore, resignation," he commented on his action on January 17 on Facebook.

The versions of the missile strike caused a scandal

In an interview with Russian blogger and human rights activist

Mark Feigin, Oleksiy Arestovych

suggested

 that a Russian missile fell on an apartment building after it was shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems.

Later, the OPU adviser added that he was "told about this by a comrade, a former PPOshnyk", who was "walking down the street at the time of the shooting".

"He told me that he 100% heard two explosions and recognized the first one as the work of air defense."

Arestovych's statement was immediately circulated by Russian propaganda to demonstrate that "representatives of the Ukrainian side admitted their guilt" in the tragedy.

The commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General

Mykola Oleschuk

, denied Arestovych's words.

He emphasized that the Armed Forces currently do not have the firepower to shoot down the Kh-22 cruise missile that hit the house.

At a briefing, the spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel

Yuriy Ignat

, called several previous reports from the military about the downing of Kh-22 missiles false.

According to him, no one in Ukraine had faced missile attacks before and had no experience in identifying downed missiles. 

"That's why there were 2-3 messages about the downed Kh-22 missile, including even on the command page, because that's how the report came from below," the colonel explained.

In his turn, Arestovych

justified himself by saying that he was "radically tired"

and expressed a warning, "that my assumption about the anti-aircraft missile is only a version that still needs to be verified."

In the end, on January 17, the OPU adviser

admitted that he "made a serious mistake on the live broadcast"

.

"Regardless of the reason and how the audience heard it, I will still be strict with the information I pass on. I sincerely apologize to the victims and their families, the residents of Dnipro and everyone who was deeply wounded by my premature wrong version of the reason why the Russian missile hit to a residential building," he wrote on Facebook.

What other statements did Arestovych "distinguish himself" with

In recent years, Oleksiy Arestovych

has repeatedly been involved in scandals due to his statements.

He explained some of the statements as deliberate provocations, because "people fall asleep or don't want to discuss some topics that are worth discussing."

  • In an interview with Mark Feigin, Arestovych complained that "in Ukraine, many people want to

    build a big country with a small culture

    ," and spoke against the rejection of "diversity," that is, Russian cultural heritage.

    In his opinion, Ukraine should be an alternative center of gravity "for all those who reach for the light in Russia and Belarus."

  • Arestovych spoke out 

    against the closing of the Mikhail Bulgakov museum

    in Kyiv, saying that it would take Ukraine's "part of influence" over the Russian Federation.

    He spoke out

    against the rejection of the Russian language in Ukraine

    .

    "To remove the plaque with Bulgakov is to take away a part of influence. To close the Bulgakov museum is to take away a piece of influence. To give up the Russian language by the method of total bans is to lose influence over our main enemy," he said.

  • The councilor of the OPU distinguished himself with a devastating post on social networks about Ukrainian activists.

    In particular, he mentioned Ukrainian culture, literature, music, e-sports, "the state in a smartphone", agro-innovations, the Armed Forces, which

    the world admires, "while there are no activists"

    .

    The post caused a wave of indignation among activists and public figures.

  • The councilor of the OPU got into a scandal because of a statement about women soldiers.

    "A woman in the army is just a horror. First, you are not considered a real person. Second, there are problems of a hygienic nature. Then they try to make you an object of sexual harassment. This is a prejudiced attitude that has been going on since women were not allowed to Zaporizhia Sich," he said.

  • Arestovych is also reminded of how he addressed President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

    In particular, he 

    called the president a "doll", and now works with him in the same office

    .

    "Before I came to work for him, I personally insulted him. And then I saw him at work. Now I treat him very well in a human way, because he is a very, very, very nice person," commented Arestovych .

Read also:

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  • Arestovych's wife told what she does and commented on her husband's presidential ambitions

  • Arestovych on the missile attack on Ukraine: "They are very bad with missiles"