After Kim's remark about Arestovych, the ex-adviser of the Office decided to also speak about his counterpart

Oleksii Arestovych, a former adviser to the President's Office, considers the head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim to be an exclusively regional politician.

He expressed his opinion about the head of the Mykolaiv region live on the YouTube channel of Vasyl Holovanov.

During the discussion of the issue of political recognition among Ukrainian figures, the host asked Oleksii Arestovych why, in his opinion, Vitalii Kim's speeches in the public space have decreased.

To which the ex-advisor replied that the reason could be the «difficult situation with water» in Mykolaiv and fatigue among the population.

In addition, according to Arestovych, the head of Mykolaiv RMA has no experience of direct work with central authorities, and therefore cannot claim a political seat at the all-Ukrainian level.

«Kim is a regional figure. He cannot claim to be a politician of the national scale, because he worked at the regional level. He did not deal with the Commander-in-Chief, did not work with the central authorities, did not speak from the rostrum of the President's Office, etc. And then, the difficult state of affairs in Mykolaiv with water, several corruption scandals — washes away. Yes, people gradually get tired of everything,» said Oleksii Arestovych.

Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv RMA, 2022

Oleksii Arestovych, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, 2022

It is worth noting that at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, both Vitalii Kim and Oleksii Arestovych focused a lot of attention of Ukrainians on themselves. In April 2022, they both became the main characters of singer Jerry Heil's patriotic track «Moskal_nekrasivyi! (Get out of Ukraine)», where they were compared to the main characters of the cartoon series «Cossacks».

Thanks to his speeches and live broadcasts, Ukrainians nicknamed Oleksii Arestovych «soothing». Although now, after leaving Ukraine, he is critical of the military situation in the country and the prospects for the end of hostilities.

Vitalii Kim also gained popularity among Ukrainians at that time, who regularly recorded videos on his Telegram channel, explaining to the population what was happening at the front, and in particular in the Mykolaiv region. However, after the de-occupation of the Kherson region, the activity of politicians has noticeably decreased. Now Vitalii Kim explains this by the fact that at that time «the war removed barriers and bureaucratic dress codes from him». In 2023, according to the Razumkov Center, he came second after Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the rating of Ukrainians' trust in politicians.

In one of his last interviews, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, commenting on the current activities of the former adviser to the President's Office, said that Oleksii Arestovych «lost his way».