In a brief standoff at border control after arriving on a flight from Warsaw, Poroshenko accused border guards of taking away his passport. He later emerged from a crowd of thousands of cheering and flag-waving supporters outside the airport.
Poroshenko’s withdrawal triggered a showdown with President Zelensky’s government, which critics say is a non-judgmental distraction as Ukraine prepares for a potential Russian military offensive and seeks the support of its Western allies.
Western diplomats called for political unity in Ukraine ahead of the arrival of Poroshenko, who was president from 2014 to 2019.
Poroshenko, 56, is being investigated for alleged treason involving the financing of Russian-backed separatist fighters through illegal coal sales in 2014-15. If found guilty, he could face 15 years in prison. His party accused Zelensky of a reckless attempt to silence the political opposition.
Zelensky’s administration maintains that the prosecutor and judiciary are independent and accuses Poroshenko of thinking he is above the law.
“We are not here to defend Poroshenko, but to unite and defend Ukraine,” Poroshenko told the crowd before heading to the Pechersk court in central Kiev to hear his case, when supporters stormed the building. shouted outside.
During a pause in the court session, he told the crowd: “The authorities are confused, weak, and instead of fighting (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, they are trying to fight us.”
State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) spokeswoman Tatiana Sapyan told a separate briefing that the DBR is apolitical.
Russian army buildup
On Friday, Zelensky’s chief of staff rejected suggestions that Zelensky was behaving like a former president, Viktor Yanukovich, who has the backing of Russia and whose political rival Yulia Tymoshenko has been imprisoned in a case. which was widely condemned as politicized by Western countries.
The row has raged as Ukraine tries to rally Western support in its standoff with Moscow after sounding the alarm about the build-up of thousands of Russian troops near its borders.
A confectionery businessman, Poroshenko was elected to head a pro-Western government in 2014 following street protests on the grounds of Yanukovich’s ouster.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia broke down in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and supported separatist fighters in conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky defeated Poroshenko in the 2019 election. He ran on a ticket to combat corruption and curb the influence of oligarchs in the former Soviet republic.
Prosecutors asked a Ukrainian court to arrest Poroshenko in December, setting the possibility of bail at 1 billion hryvnia ($37 million).
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