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Two Ukrainian stories on 17 January 2020
Summary
A look back at a day when Kyiv's government faced a resignation drama and Tehran's leader addressed anger over the downed Ukrainian airliner.
What did 17 January 2020 reveal about the pressures on Ukraine and those tied to its fate? Two separate stories that day, one in Kyiv and one in Tehran, pointed to leaders under scrutiny.
Kyiv: a resignation that was not accepted
On 17 January 2020, Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk submitted his resignation. The move followed the leak earlier that week of an audio clip in which he allegedly criticised President Volodymyr Zelensky's economic policies. Zelensky subsequently announced that Honcharuk would be allowed to keep his position.
The episode left the prime minister in office, but the public offer to step down showed how quickly a leaked recording could unsettle the government.
Tehran: a sermon amid public anger
The same day, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered a Friday sermon, his first in eight years. He defended the Revolutionary Guards over the accidental killing of passengers aboard Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752. He also praised Operation Martyr Soleimani for delivering a "slap on the face" to the United States.
The sermon came as public anger mounted against the Iranian government over its handling of the downing of the flight. The aircraft had been shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on 8 January 2020, and the disclosure of that fact set off anti-government protests.
Two leaders, two pressures
The stories were unconnected in substance, but both showed officials responding to public and political pressure. In Kyiv the matter was a leaked recording and a resignation that Zelensky declined to accept. In Tehran it was a leader defending the military after the loss of a civilian airliner, while protests continued.
