Seen As Turncoats By Moscow, Exiled Duma Pair Blasts Kremlin From Kyiv

[TomSea]

Seen As Turncoats By Moscow, Exiled Duma Pair Blasts Kremlin From Kyiv

Denis Voronenkov (left) and his wife, Maria Maksakova, who is also a former Russian lawmaker, left Russia for Ukraine in October 2016. (file photo)
KYIV -- Denis Voronenkov, the former Russian lawmaker who fled in October and has since taken Ukrainian citizenship, has come ready to chastise President Vladimir Putin, who he once supported, and his native Russia.

When I arrive at this Georgian restaurant down the street from the Ukrainian parliament building, Voronenkov and his wife, Maria Maksakova, a renowned opera singer who is also a former Russian lawmaker, have already started in on beer, eggplant wraps, and a vegetable salad dressed with walnut paste.

In his first interview with a foreign journalist since fleeing to Ukraine, Voronenkov fires off talking points while tearing through a fluffy, racket-shaped piece of bread. Dressed in a sportcoat and turtleneck sweater with a luxury watch on his wrist, he compares present-day Russia with "Nazi Germany," says its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region was "a mistake" and "illegal," claims Russian security services "hounded" him out of the country, and calls charges brought against him back home "fake" and "political."

Continued: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-voronenkov-maksakova/28313807.html