The news about the appointment of Mykola Serga as an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andriy Sybiga, was "interrupted with another card", mentioning the 87-year-old advisor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs - General Vasyl Durdynets.
This was noted by journalist, restaurant marketer, gastronomic columnist, and researcher Vsevolod Polishchuk.
On his Facebook page, he writes:
"A lot of discussion was caused by the appointment of Kolya Serga as a freelance advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I agree that the first reaction is quite natural WTF. But then you learn that Serga is one of the authors of the Cultural Landing, and you remember that a freelance advisor in our system has no influence, authority, or even a salary..."
Instead, he is personally much more concerned about the figure of Vasyl Durdynets, who holds the position of advisor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Personally, I am much more concerned that the full-time, paid, and empowered advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs is still 87-year-old Vasyl Durdynets. The same Durdynets who was the secretary of the city Komsomol in the 1950s, the regional Komsomol in the 1960s, and the deputy minister of internal affairs of the Ukrainian SSR from 1978 to 1991. The one whom dissidents accused of intimidation and pressure even after the USSR collapsed. The one who in the 2000s headed the committee for the development of Ukraine's borders (our border was very developed as a result, right?)," writes Vsevolod Polishchuk.
He notes that Serga, unlike Durdynets, apologized honestly:
"And yet Kolya Serga quite clearly and honestly apologized for not seeing the war and Russification until 2022 and has been proving for the past three years that he truly understood his mistake. But I have never heard Mr. Durdynets apologize. In the first case, I'm simply not sure if it's a good appointment. But in the second case — this is really WTF?!".
Vasyl Durdynets - Ukrainian statesman, politician and public figure and diplomat. In 1958–1978 he worked in Komsomol and Communist Party bodies (Lviv, Moscow, Kyiv). In 1978 he was appointed Deputy, and in 1982 - 1st Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR. He worked in this position until February 1991. In 1986 he headed the operational headquarters for maintaining law and order in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident zone.
Since September 1995 - Chairman of the Coordination Council for the Development of the State Border of Ukraine. And since 2004 - Advisor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
We should also add that the general of the internal service Vasyl Durdynets still works as a full-time advisor to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and receives a salary. "Glavkom", referring to the received salary statement of the advisers to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, indicates that during January 2023 - January 2025, Durdynets received 1.12 million UAH. Thus, the Ministry of Internal Affairs pays 30-40 thousand UAH to the respected general of the internal service every month.
In this context, let us recall that Ukrainian journalist Lena Chichenina reacted emotionally to these statements about the appointment of Serga as an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
And Ukrainian singer, public figure, Honored Artist of Ukraine Anastasia Prykhodko joked that she could then be the Minister of Economy.