It is not the first time that he heard similar declarations emanating from Lviv lawmakers, Kolesnykov said. “You can’t ban PoR, it’s the same as banning the sun rise,” he commented.

“My message to such pseudo patriots is that PoR made the largest contribution to Ukraine’s independence and economic sovereignty, whereas some leaders of these pseudo patriots are trying to pull the plug on democracy in Ukraine. They think that learning to sing the Ukrainian hymn in Ukrainian, pressing the hand against the heart is enough to be a patriot. They forget that the South and the East of Ukraine work hard to ensure the true independence. The Donetsk oblast alone accounts for 25% of Ukraine’s GDP. This is a real contribution to independence,” Kolesnykov stressed.