On July 21, a person with mental disorders had seized a bus and took the passengers hostage in the center of Lutsk, Ukraine. For hours, law enforcement, accompanied by psychologists and communication specialists, tried to persuade the man to release the 13 persons trapped on the bus but without success.

As time went on and the man threatened to kill the passengers on the bus, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, got involved in the negotiations.

During the seven minutes they talked, Zelensky managed to convince him to release some of the hostages. While the President of Ukraine agreed to comply with the terrorist’s claim, three hostages were released. 

A message appeared on Zelensky Facebook page. “The film Earthlings from 2005. Let everyone watch it” („Фильм Земляне 2005 года. Смотреть всем”).

Asked by the terrorist, Ukraine President did not hesitate to make this bizarre and meaningless statement. He uttered the terrorist’s statement and posted it on social media networks … Later, it became clear that the terrorist asked high-ranking officials to post videos in which they would admit that they are “terrorists protected by law”.

Maxym Kryvosh, the man who took the bus passengers hostages was detained. The Ukrainian press wrote that he had been convicted several times and that he currently had serious mental health problems.

This situation did not prevent Zelensky from communicating with him on an equal footing. 

“We are not fighting for ratings. We are fighting for life. For me, this is the most treasured value,” Zelensky explained in a video conference why he himself insisted on negotiating the release of the hostages. 

Moldova’s President Igor Dodon should also understand that life is the most precious value. For him, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 simply means a temporary problem. Dodon entered the presidential race so resolutely that he is no longer interested in the sick and the victims of COVID-19. 

These days, he visited a mask production company. He promised people from the company to unblock the export of masks, which is none of his duty.

He also had a meeting with his party colleague, Ion Ceban, now mayor of Chișinău.

“I appreciated the evacuation of illegally installed billboards, and abandoned cars from the streets of Chișinău, the launch of cleaning works on the Bîc riverbed, the infrastructure, and public spaces projects,” declared Dodon. He also stated that he was also interested in the rehabilitation of roads and of sidewalks in the city. No one can deny that this meeting, and the discussions within it, are not part of the same presidential campaign.

Dodon’s recent actions reveal that he started the presidential race a long time ago although he did not officially announce his candidacy for the presidential elections. Dodon abuses the powers of his office and uses the state money to finance the actions in this presidential race. 

These days, Dodon offered orders and medals to a group of soldiers from the National Army, doctors working in the Central Military Clinical Hospital and the Diagnostic Consultative Center of the Ministry of Defense, and some soldiers in reserve, according to decrees previously signed. 

On July 17, he offered decorations to militaries, but we failed to find out the names of the decorated persons. On the website of the Presidency under the heading DECREES, the last posts date 2017.

• President Igor Dodon’s Merit Award

However, we know for sure that the medical workers, who died of COVID-19 while trying to save the lives of their patients, were not nominated for decorations.  Isn’t it about life? Don’t they deserve it? 

Probably, their name and memory do not count anymore if they can no longer vote in the election.