Rudy Giuliani’s Ukrainian associate Andrii Telizhenko had his visa revoked, as reported by the Washington Post. Among other places, Mr. Telizhenko used to work for the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office and the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington D.C.
Former diplomat and avid Trump supporter, Telizhenko has worked with Donald Trump’s controversial personal lawyer to spread conspiracy theories about the Biden family and Ukraine’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Following a series of curious trips with Giuliani, Telizhenko provided materials to Sen. Ron Johnson and Sen. Chuck Grassley as part of their Burisma probe.
Interestingly, Andrii Telizhenko helped organize Rudy Giuliani’s sudden trip to Kyiv in early December 2019. When former New York mayor visited the capital of Ukraine, Mr. Giuliani met with another odious Ukrainian who had been recently sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury.
On September 10, the US Department of the Treasury designated Andrii Derkach “for his efforts to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election”. Calling the Ukrainian MP “an active Russian agent”, Treasury highlighted its intent to send “a clear signal to Moscow and its proxies that this activity will not be tolerated”.
“From at least late 2019 through mid-2020, Derkach waged a covert influence campaign centered on cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning U.S. officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election,” the Department explained in its official statement.
As CNN reported, there are also discussions in the US government about sanctioning Mr. Telizhenko and identifying him as a Russian agent. For now, Andrii Telizhenko had his visa revoked; allegedly, former Ukrainian diplomat found out about it when he unsuccessfully tried to board a Kyiv-New York flight.
As Ukrainian ambassador to the US Volodymyr Yelchenko told CNN, "The guy fully deserved it."