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Kyiv's trident and a week of political friction
Summary
A look back at the stories linking Ukraine to Iran, Britain and its own government in the days before 23 January 2020.
What was pressing on Ukraine's politics and diplomacy on 23 January 2020? Three developments from the preceding days framed it, one at home and two abroad.
A prime minister's offer to quit
On 17 January 2020, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk submitted his resignation. It 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 was allowed to keep his position.
Tension with London over the Tryzub
On 21 January 2020, Ukraine demanded that the United Kingdom's National Counter Terrorism Policing Network remove the country's Tryzub coat of arms from a guide on hate symbols associated with white supremacy and Neo-Nazism. Counter Terrorism Policing said the coat of arms had been included because it was used by National Action, a proscribed far-right terror group.
Flight 752 and Iran's response
The third thread concerned Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran shot down on 8 January 2020. On 17 January 2020, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered his first Friday sermon in eight years. He defended the Revolutionary Guards over the accidental killing of passengers on board and praised Operation Martyr Soleimani for giving what he called 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. Protests over the shootdown formed part of wider unrest in Iran that month.
Together, these stories show how Kyiv spent the days before 23 January 2020 managing a domestic government question, a dispute over its national symbol and the aftermath of the Flight 752 disaster.
