Viktor Shokin | |
|---|---|
Віктор Шокін | |
 Shokin in 2015 | |
| 13th Prosecutor General of Ukraine | |
| In office 10 February 2015 – 29 March 2016 | |
| President | Petro Poroshenko |
| Preceded by | Vitaly Yarema |
| Succeeded by | Yuriy Lutsenko[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Viktor Mykolayovych Shokin 4 November 1952 Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | Independent |
| Signature |  |
Viktor Mykolayovych Shokin (Ukrainian: Віктор Миколайович Шокін; born 4 November 1952)[2] is a former Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Having previously worked as an investigator for the Prosecutor General Office, he served as Prosecutor General for one year between 2015 and 2016.
Amid domestic and international pressure, he was removed from office by the Ukrainian Parliament in March 2016, a move welcomed by the European Union, the United States, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
Shokin's removal played a central role in the Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory as it was falsely[3] claimed that then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden extorted the Ukrainian government into firing Shokin to thwart an investigation into Burisma, a company tied to his son, Hunter Biden, but Obama administration officials, European diplomats, and anti-corruption advocates in Ukraine say Shokin was removed because he failed to pursue Ukrainian politicians for corruption, and that they intervened before Biden did.[4][5][6]
- ^ "Lutsenko appointed prosecutor general in Ukraine". Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. Kyiv, Ukraine: 1+1 Media Group. 12 May 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ "ШОКІН Віктор Миколайович". Вища рада правосуддя (in Ukrainian). Government of Ukraine. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Caldera, Camille (21 October 2020). "Fact check: Biden leveraged $1B in aid to Ukraine to oust corrupt prosecutor, not to help his son". USA Today. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
Based on our research, the claim that Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion from Ukraine to save his son's job is FALSE.
- Alba, Davey; Thompson, Stuart A. (25 February 2022). "'I'll Stand on the Side of Russia': Pro-Putin Sentiment Spreads Online". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 April 2022 – via NYTimes.com.
- Plokhy, Serhii; Sarotte, M. E. (2020). "The Shoals of Ukraine: Where American Illusions and Great-Power Politics Collide". Foreign Affairs. 99: 81.
- Lawler, Dave (2 October 2019). "Fact check: What Joe and Hunter Biden actually did in Ukraine". Axios. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
False: Biden pushed for Shokin's ouster to protect his son.
- Kessler, Glenn (27 September 2019). "A quick guide to Trump's false claims about Ukraine and the Bidens". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
Trump has falsely claimed that Biden in 2015 pressured the Ukrainian government to fire Viktor Shokin, the top Ukrainian prosecutor, because he was investigating Ukraine's largest private gas company, Burisma, which had added Biden's son, Hunter, to its board in 2014.
- Bevan, Matt (14 January 2021). "Joe Biden and Hunter Biden have been accused of corruption, but there's good reason to be sceptical". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
To begin with, it must be noted that the central premise of the stories is false.
- Sherman, Amy (11 October 2019). "Donald Trump ad misleads about Joe Biden, Ukraine and the prosecutor". PolitiFact. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- Kiely, Eugene (15 October 2020). "Trump Revives False Narrative on Biden and Ukraine". FactCheck.org. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- Hjelmgaard, Kim (11 October 2019). "Trump's conspiracy theories thrive in Ukraine, where a young democracy battles corruption and distrust". USA Today. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- Pilkington, Ed (30 September 2019). "Five fantasies Trump is pushing about the Ukraine scandal – and the truth". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- Timm, Jane C. (7 October 2019). "Trump is pushing a baseless conspiracy about the Bidens and China. Here's what we know". NBC News. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- Collins, Sean (23 September 2019). "The facts behind Trump's bogus accusations about Biden and Ukraine". Vox. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- Mayer, Jane (4 October 2019). "The Invention of the Conspiracy Theory on Biden and Ukraine". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
- Collins, Ben; Zadrozny, Brandy (20 November 2019). "As Sondland testified, a misleading Ukraine story spread among conservatives on social media". NBC News. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- Caldera, Camille (21 October 2020). "Fact check: Biden leveraged $1B in aid to Ukraine to oust corrupt prosecutor, not to help his son". USA Today. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ Subramanian, Courtney (15 November 2019) [Originally published 3 October 2019]. "Explainer: Biden, allies pushed out Ukrainian prosecutor because he didn't pursue corruption cases". USA Today. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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