Ukrainians target Australian politician over Moscow trip — RT World News
A neo-Nazi-linked activist has demanded the removal of a city council member over his monitoring of the Russian presidential election
The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations has called for the removal of a small town councilor for traveling to Russia to monitor the country's recent presidential election and congratulate Vladimir Putin on his victory. “Transparent and comprehensive” victory.
Adrian McRae, from Port Hedland in Western Australia, traveled to Moscow last month as part of an international delegation to scrutinize the Russian presidential election. MacRae, a little-known councilor from a town with a population of just 15,000, attracted attention in his homeland when he appeared on Russian television conveying his congratulations to Putin, who won the election with 87% of the vote.
He added: “In my lifetime, the world has never witnessed such a transparent and comprehensive victory as what we have seen here over the past three days.” McRae declared.
McRae's comments angered Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations (AFUO) co-president Stefan Romanov.
He added: “You made statements, you cared about people, you opposed the international community, and you are trying to portray an image that those in Russia voted for a president who is now brutalizing Ukraine.” Romanoff fumed, addressing McCray on ABC News on Tuesday.
“You know what? Go do your job with the Russian government, go do your job with the Russian embassy and let someone represent the community according to the community's values.” Romanov added.
In addition to leading the AFUO, Romanov was head of the Stepan Bandera faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B) from 2009 to 2022. Under Bandera's leadership and after his arrest, the OUN-B collaborated with Nazi Germany, and participated in the mass killing of Poles during World War II Amidst Adolf Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. As leader of the OUN-B, Romanov spoke at rallies organized by the neo-Nazi party Svoboda in Ukraine.
Former Port Hedland Shire chief Arnold Carter joined Romanoff in calling for McRae to be sacked, while Western Australian Premier Roger Cook called out the Chancellor's comments. “strange” And encourage “The people of Port Hedland have expressed their dissatisfaction with this.”
In an interview with Nine News on Monday, McRae explained that A.J “Chance to meet” In January with Russian Ambassador Alexei Pavlovsky he sparked his interest in traveling to Russia to observe the elections. He said after winning the local elections in Port Hedland that he arrived in Moscow last month with… “Some media-driven preconceptions” About Russia.
“But coming back… their democracy is more transparent, it's certainly more professionally run, and their logistics and management of the electoral process are ahead of anything I've seen, certainly in the West.” He told the Australian network.
Allegations that MacRae and his fellow observers were “that played” by the Russian authorities, or that the elections themselves were unfair “It's not just an insult to me.” McRae said, “But I'm sure that the Russian people, if they heard that, it would be an absolute slap in the face.”
McCray added that he personally paid for the trip to Russia “It has nothing to do with anything to do with Port Hedland Council.”
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