“Have you had too much of that fancy kutia?”: journalists and experts doubt the words of Burkin from “Khimprom” and the authenticity of the interview in general

Yehor Burkin, nicknamed "Mexican," who is linked to the "KhimProm" criminal group, gave an interview to blogger Vasyl Tymoshenko in which he spoke about the specifics of his business, including those featured in an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau as part of proceedings better known as "Operation Carthage." Burkin made a number of sensational statements, but the interview provoked a rather ambiguous reaction, both among ordinary Ukrainians and among politicians, journalists, media experts, and public figures, UNN writes. 

Public figure Serhii Sternenko remarked that a person such as "Mexican" should not become "the headline-maker of Ukrainian news." 

Oksana Moroz, founder of the information hygiene initiative "How Not to Become a Vegetable," noted that the author of the interview was unlikely to have identified whom exactly he was speaking with and had not verified most of the facts voiced by Burkin. 

"(...) Burkin's words = the words of the russian federation. Any doubts? Especially after this interview, which clearly followed a playbook — drowning some, praising others, and doing it in such a way that there would be more chaos, more!

And yes, Russia has long stopped inventing anything — real problems of ours are at the core

4) One of the goals is to whitewash KhimProm

These obvious things should have imposed filters on how we analyze the information in this "masterpiece of journalism,"" she wrote. 

The "Svoboda" member and former MP Yurii Mykhalchyshyn was even more radical in his statements: "Have you people eaten too much gangster kutia…?" 

Journalist and media manager Kateryna Kobernyk noted that "Mexican" was not a source worthy of trust and that he had offered his interview to various Ukrainian media outlets. Kobernyk effectively makes it clear that blogger Vasyl Tymoshenko became Burkin's "point of entry" into the Ukrainian information space. 

"Mexican offers interviews to many Ukrainian media outlets. They refuse because there is absolutely no way to verify his words. And it would be hard to imagine a less trustworthy source: threats, murders, beatings, drug trafficking, cooperation with the FSB — this is a very short list of what the "speaker" is suspected of. The monologue — because this is not an interview — is handed over to some blogger. Meanwhile, Ukrainska Pravda, citing ZN and a post by Inna Vedernikova, retells everything Mexican said in detail (without any verification) and places it as the main news item in its feed. When the desire to blow everything to hell is stronger than common sense. We are waiting for a dozen videos with serious discussions about how Mexican is agonizing over corruption in Ukraine. There are no words," Kobernyk wrote. 

Meanwhile, journalist and founder of the engineering YouTube channel "Meiknemo," Kateryna Venzhyk, doubts altogether that the interview was given by the real Burkin. 

"Should I tell you about the AI tool Eleven Labs ($120 a year), which will make a voice clone from any voice uploaded to it and use that voice to read any text? And no, there will be no idiotic stress errors or hanging endings; that has long been a thing of the past.

And I named the cheapest and simplest option because I don't have enough money for the expensive one," she wrote. 

Overall, many social media users doubt the authenticity of this interview; or, even if they allow that it really was Burkin, they believe it should be taken into account that he is linked to Russian special services.