Petro Poroshenko
© REUTERS/ Valentyn Ogirenko
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ended up being booed after a public appearance at a memorial complex, prompting concerns about growing discontent with his rule within the country.

On May 21, which is annually observed in Ukraine as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko arrived at the Bykivnia Graves National Historic Memorial to make a public address.

After delivering his speech the Ukrainian leader was approached by a large group of people who peppered him with questions like, "How come the poorest country in Europe has such a rich president?" and demanded that he, "Reign in the judges so they stop stealing."


Poroshenko however decided not to engage in a public debate and hurried away from the scene as the crowd chanted, "Shame on you!", "Liar!" and "Resign!"

Political analyst Alexander Dudchak told Sputnik Radio that this reaction is unsurprising given the fact that virtually all of Kiev's recent political, economic and social initiatives have led to the average Ukrainian becoming increasingly disaffected with their government.

"Maybe Poroshenko's advisers want him to lose the remains of electoral support and to leave the office. Maybe they deliberately give him advice that would make it easier to replace him," Dudchak speculated.

He also added that a number of factors suggest that Poroshenko is being groomed to become a scapegoat who would be held responsible for all the bad things committed by Ukrainian authorities over the last few years.

"For the collective West it would be a good way out of this situation: pin the blame for all the negatives on one guy and replace him with another who would keep telling Ukrainians the same tall tales while doing practically the same things his predecessor did," Dudchak explained.

Meanwhile, Alexei Pushkov, a member of the Federation Council, said that this incident essentially sums up the results of Poroshenko's presidency.

"Vox Populi: By chanting "Liar!" and "Shame on You!" at Poroshenko, a portion of Ukrainian electorate succinctly and emotionally summed up the results of his presidency," Puskov wrote on Twitter.