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一 |     The Zelensky narrative used by western media "has palpably shifted" over the last few weeks, according to Steve Cortes, a US political consultant, market strategist and former Trump campaign adviser.,This shift particularly comes in relation to the latest CBS News report which alleged that "much of the billions of dollars of military aid that the US is sending to Ukraine doesn't make it to the front lines." Cortes also cites the New York Times' Thomas L. Friedman, who admitted earlier this month that "there is deep mistrust between the White House and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine — considerably more than has been reported.",Concerns also appear to be simmering over Zelensky firing his prosecutor general and intelligence chief on July 18 without explanations. "I have still not seen any reporting that convincingly explains what that was all about," Friedman wrote. "It is as if we don’t want to look too closely under the hood in Kiev for fear of what corruption or antics we might see, when we have invested so much there.",Similarly, German newspaper Die Welt once again shed light on Zelensky's offshore network schemes on August 3, as exposed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) in October 2021. It also revealed Kiev's apparent role in cancelling a Ukrainian documentary "Offshore 95 – President Zelensky's Secret Deals" last year.,The press reports were also preceded by GOP Representative Victoria Spartz's push for more oversight of US aid to Kiev amid suspicions of corruption within the Zelensky cabinet.,RussiaUS Analyst: Time Has Come for American Politicians to Hold Kiev Responsible for Endemic Corruption23 July, 13:03 GMT,Zelensky & Kolomoisky,Accusations of corruption are threatening to strip the Ukrainian president of his heroic "halo." On July 20, investigative journalist and managing editor of CovertAction Magazine, Jeremy Kuzmarov, provided details of Zelensky's longstanding ties to Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky.,Kolomoisky has been under FBI investigation for financial crimes, including money laundering, for the past few years. The Ukrainian oligarch is also known for funding and supporting notorious neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist battalions including Azov*, Aidar, Donbas, Dnepr 1, and Dnepr 2, in 2014. According to Kuzmarov, these military units "were sometimes deployed as personal thug squads to protect Kolomoisky’s financial interests.",In January 2022, the US Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint alleging that Kolomoisky and his associate Gennadiy Bogolyubov, who owned Ukraine's PrivatBank, embezzled and defrauded the financial institution for $5.5 billion.,Judging from the Pandora Papers, Zelensky and his partners in his Kvartal 95 television production company founded a network of offshore companies in 2012 just as they started to cooperate with Kolomoisky's TV stations.,Four days after the release of Kuzmarov's exposé this year, reports emerged indicating that Zelensky had stripped Kolomoisky of his Ukrainian citizenship alongside another two Ukrainian oligarchs.,"I am not sure what is behind the decision to strip Kolomoisky of citizenship but it could be an attempt to improve Zelensky's public image and try and distance himself from his former backer because of the corruption scandals and legal problems Kolomoisky is facing," says Kuzmarov. "We see a similar thing in US politics, for example, when Barack Obama distanced himself from Tony Rezko, a highly corrupt backer of his in the state of Illinois (when Obama was a state senator) who was jailed for corruption.",According to the investigative journalist, "at this stage, Zelensky may feel he does not need Kolomoisky's support anymore especially given that he is being provided billions of dollars of weapons and aid from the US and West.","[Kolomoisky] has only become a liability with the indictments he faces in the US," the journalist continues.,In addition, Zelensky fired his long-time associate State Security Service (SBU) head Ivan Bakanov, who is now subject of an investigation. In October 2021, Bakanov was mentioned in the Pandora Papers as Zelensky's partner in the offshore network.,"It could all be related, yes, that Zelensky is trying to distance himself from his former close associates who are being set up to take the fall for the corruption that Zelensky is implicated in too," says Kuzmarov. "Zelensky may feel that he has powerful protectors in the 'international community'.",WorldBigwigs, Bucks & Biolabs: US Establishment Has a Lot of Skeletons in Ukraine's Closet, Analyst Says13 May, 12:00 GMT,Corruption Outside Ukraine,Meanwhile, the story of Ukrainian corruption appears to be bigger than Zelensky's apparent financial machinations and links to the oligarchy, according to Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel.,"For a blinkered mainstream press, Kolomoisky readily can be sold as a convenient scapegoat considering his deeply suspicious and repugnant history. That said, who are the true puppeteers inside Ukraine? Are they governments, billionaire investors or both?" asks Ortel. "Considering the many ways in which state-owned assets and aid ostensibly for Ukraine have already been plundered, the period from 1991 forward and more recently from 2004 and then 2014 forward may well be used for decades to demonstrate that there is no honor among thieves, and great danger for populations when political corruption is encouraged.",The Wall Street analyst alleges that Ukraine provided a certain financial bonanza for US dynastical families, including the Clintons and the Bidens, well before Zelensky came to power. As such, Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk, who is also the son-in-law of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, generously donated to the Clinton charity, prompting suspicions of a "pay-to-play" scheme.,Likewise, Republican lawmakers have long been looking into apparent influence peddling involving then-Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, who sat on the board of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma and was reportedly paid a staggering $83,333 per month. According to Miranda Devine's book "Laptop from Hell," Burisma slashed Hunter's salary in half two months after his father ceased to be vice president.,© AP Photo / Sarahbeth ManeyFILE - Members of Congress give Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky a standing ovation before he speaks in a virtual address to Congress in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center Congressional Auditorium in Washington, on Wednesday, March 16, 2022FILE - Members of Congress give Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky a standing ovation before he speaks in a virtual address to Congress in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center Congressional Auditorium in Washington, on Wednesday, March 16, 2022© AP Photo / Sarahbeth Maney,Zelensky Not Indispensable for West,"With so many worries distracting voters in key nations, and given his status for a time as one-part Greta Thunberg scold and a second part Tony Fauci hero, Zelensky may believe he has secured a permanent 'White Hat' role, and that he never will be called to account for massive corruption to which he and many others seem connected," explained Ortel.,However, Zelensky shouldn't delude himself into believing that he is "indispensible" in the eyes of the western political establishment, according to the analyst. As such, Thomas L. Friedman's notion that the Biden administration and the Ukrainian president are not on the same page should come as a potential warning for Kiev’s man.,For his part, National Review's Jim Geraghty suggests that the NYT leak that the White House does not trust the Ukrainian president could mean two things.,"Possibility one is that the Biden administration just wants the Ukraine-Russia war to end, and Zelensky isn’t playing ball, so the administration is getting ready to leave Zelensky hanging out to dry," Geraghty wrote on August 2. "Possibility two is that the administration foresees the Ukraine-Russia war going badly, and is preparing to use Zelensky as a scapegoat.",In any event, the Biden administration appears to be laying the groundwork to argue, "We did everything we could to help the Ukrainians defend themselves, but in the end, they were too incompetent, too corrupt, and too beset by infighting," according to Geraghty.,"It is difficult to predict when Zelensky will outlive his usefulness and get cast aside but that day is coming, whether in retaliation by a vindictive erstwhile ally or in military action or otherwise," Ortel concludes.,*Azov Battalion is a terrorist group banned in Russia.。    진실과 약자의 편에 섰던 ‘김학철 문학 정신 살리자’ 시민들 뜻 모아 문학상 제정제1회 수상작 황정은·최진영·전춘화 세 편 수록540명 투표인단 대상 선정 투표…수상작 추후 발표                   ‘제1회 김학철문학상 수상작품집’. 김학철문학상운영위원회 제공 “김학철 선생이 총 대신 펜을 들고 지켜내려 한 조선의용대 대원들의 삶과 위업은 여전히 역사의 변방으로 밀려나 있습니다. 김학철문학상은 그가 지켜내려고 했던 조선의용대, 항일무장투쟁 전사들의 아름다웠던 서사를 역사의 중심으로 복원해 나가는 일입니다.” 20세기 항일투사이자 문학가였던 김학철(1917~2001) 선생의 정신을 받든 ‘2026 제1회 김학철문학상 수상작품집’이 최근 출간됐다. 문학상 제정을 이끈 방현석 작가(중앙대 문예창작학과 교수, 항일무장투쟁역사학교 교장)는 지난 24일 기자들과 만나 “민족반역자들의 이름으로 문학상을 주는 것이 아닌, 존중할 것을 존중할 줄 아는 세상을 위해 선생의 삶과 문학을 진심으로 존경하는 특별한 마음들이 모여 문학상을 만들게 됐다”고 설명했다. 문학소년이던 김학철은 보성고를 다니던 시절 이상화의 ‘빼앗길 들에도 봄은 오는가’를 읽으며 항일무장투쟁의 길에 나섰다. 조선의용대 분대장이던 그는 1941년 태항산전투에서 허벅지 총상을 입고 일본 나가사키 형무소에 수감돼 왼쪽 다리를 잘랐다. 독립전쟁기 조선, 해방 후 남한, 사회주의 국가 북한과 중국 그 어디든 그는 안온한 삶 대신 신념을 지키는 삶을 택했다. 친일파들이 득세하던 시절 탈남해 한국전쟁기에 떠난 중국에선 마오쩌둥의 개인숭배를 비판한 소설로 7년 수감에 이어 10년 징역을 살았다. 그는 2001년 21일의 단식으로 장엄한 생애를 마치면서 짧은 유언을 남겼다. “편안하게 살려거든 불의를 외면하라. 그러나 인간답게 살려면 그에 맞서라.”                    김학철 선생의 아들 김해양씨와 방현석 작가가 지난 6월 ‘범도루트 제16기 김학철 조선의용대 태항산특별여단’에서 함께 사진을 찍고 있다. 범도루트 제16기 제공 방 작가는 “김학철 선생은 약자와 진실의 편에 섰고 쓰지 말아야 할 글은 쓰지 않았다. 김학철문학상은 단순히 한 개인을 기리는 상이 아니라 남과 북 어디서도 서훈조차 받지 못한 그의 삶에 바치는 감사와 존경이자, 그러한 분들의 존재를 잊지 않겠다는 다짐”이라고 말했다. 김학철문학상은 어떤 기관이나 단체의 후원도 받지 않고 김학철 선생의 삶과 문학을 존경하는 독자 100명이 매달 내는 지원금으로 운영한다. 문학상의 취지에 맞게 친일 관련 문학상 수상자의 작품은 철저하게 제외했다. 새로운 세상을 밝히는 시선과 김학철 선생의 문학정신을 이어가며 모국어를 가장 빛나게 갱신해 나가는 작품을 중심으로 선정됐다. 황정은의 ‘문제없는, 하루’, 최진영의 ‘울루루-카타추타’, 전춘화의 ‘웰컴 투 빌라’ 세 편이다. 대상 수상작도 독자들의 투표로 결정한다. ‘김학철문학상 수상작품집’ 출간에 앞서 진행된 북펀딩에는 그의 정신을 잇는 취지에 동참하는 540명의 마음이 모였는데 이들이 투표에 참여하게 된다. 대상 수상작 시상식은 11월 초 진행될 예정이다. 방현석 작가는 “김학철의 정신과 조선의용대의 위업을 우리 문학과 역사에 복원시키자는 호소에 이렇게 호응이 뜨거울 줄은 몰랐다”며 “독자가 만들고 독자가 선정하는 국민문학상으로 자리 잡을거라 본다”고 전했다.。