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In
a brief stand-off at border control after arriving on a flight
from Warsaw, he accused the border guards of taking away his
passport. He later emerged to a crowd of flag-waving supporters
outside the airport.
Poroshenko's return sets up a showdown with Zelenskiy's
government in what critics say is an ill-judged distraction at a
time when Ukraine is bracing for a possible Russian military
offensive and appealing to Western allies for support.
Western diplomats called for political unity in Ukraine ahead of
Poroshenko's arrival.
Poroshenko is being investigated for alleged treason linked to
the financing of Russian-backed separatist fighters through
illegal coal sales while in office in 2014-15. His party accused
Zelenskiy of a reckless attempt to silence political opposition.
Zelenskiy's administration says the prosecutors and judiciary
are independent and accuses Poroshenko of thinking he is above
the law.
"We are not here to protect Poroshenko, but to unite and protect
Ukraine," Poroshenko told the crowd.
At a briefing, Tetiana Sapyan, a spokeswoman for the State
Bureau of Investigations (DBR), said Poroshenko had been handed
a summons to appear in court later on Monday.
"However, Petro Poroshenko refused to receive procedural
documents, ignored the legal requirements of the investigator,
and at the same time, the persons who were with him carried out
physical resistance, which was recorded on video recordings."
Ukraine and its allies have sounded the alarm about tens of
thousands of Russian troops massed near its borders.
After days of diplomacy last week achieved no breakthrough, the
United States said on Friday Russia was preparing a pretext for
an attack, something the Kremlin dismissed as "unfounded".
(Reporting by Sergiy Karazy, Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets;
Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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