Sergey Sternenko once headed the Right Sector ultranationalist movement in Odessa
A right-wing Ukrainian activist and military blogger, who was once reportedly offered a job by Vladimir Zelensky, has apparently mocked the death of Pope Francis. The Vatican announced on Monday morning that the head of the Catholic Church had passed away at age 88.
Sergey Sternenko, the former leader of the ultranationalist Right Sector movement in Odessa, gained notoriety in 2018 when he stabbed a man to death. After protests from neo-Nazi groups, the murder charges against him were dropped and he was convicted for illegal weapon possession.
In a post to his more than 800,000 followers on Telegram, Sternenko shared a photo of the pontiff meeting with US Vice President J.D. Vance and added a caption reading: “J.D. Vance visited the Pope just yesterday. Coincidence?”
Sternenko’s post on Telegram got over 12,000 laughing emoji reactions, with many in the comments ridiculing both the pontiff and the US Vice President.
Ahead of the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary elections, Zelensky is said to have approached Sternenko with an offer to head Ukraine’s Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Odessa. The proposal came as numerous far-right and ultranationalist groups like Right Sector, Svoboda, and Azov had gained significant influence within the Ukrainian government, particularly following the 2014 Maidan coup.
The strong influence of neo-Nazi groups in Kiev ultimately became one of the root causes for Russia’s military involvement in 2022, with Moscow naming “denazification” as one of its key objectives.
Sternenko’s post about Vance and the Pope comes amid strained relations between Washington and Kiev, which particularly soured after Zelensky got into a shouting match with US President Donald Trump and Vance in the White House in February. The Ukrainian leader was accused of being ungrateful for US support and “gambling with World War III.”
Since then, Zelensky has claimed that the Trump administration is being misled by “Russian narratives” and suggested that Moscow has an “enormous influence” on US policies.
Last week, Vance responded by accusing Zelensky of making “absurd” statements, noting that the US has been keeping “the entire [Kiev] government and war effort together.” Trump also admitted last Thursday that he was “not happy” with the Ukrainian leader and the way he has been handling the conflict with Russia.
