Arrests in the highest echelons of power in 2023: corruption, treason and “drunk” accidents

In 2023, a series of arrests of people's deputies, judges and mayors of Ukrainian cities occurred, which became a discussed event. Many of them were taken into custody in a pre-trial detention center pending investigation, but some were able to be released after posting bail.

RegioNews has made a selection of the most high-profile arrests in the past year.

Judge Knyazev and a huge bribe

Vsevolod Knyazev

On May 15, NABU and SAPO announced large-scale facts of corruption in the Supreme Court of Ukraine. As part of this case, the head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, was even detained . He is suspected of receiving a bribe of about $3 million.

NABU said that they received information about corruption in the judicial branch of government. Therefore, the detectives decided to check this information, and already during the operational penetration and special task, the undercover detectives actually discovered a violation of the law. For example, contact was recorded between the owner of the Finance and Credit group, Konstantin Zhevago, and a lawyer’s association, through which Zhevago asked to transfer bribes to the leadership of the Supreme Court in order to make the necessary decision.

Law enforcement officers recorded that on May 3 they handed over the first part of the bribe, and on May 15 – the second part. Members of the group also tried to influence the election of members of the High Qualifications Commission of Judges of Ukraine.

Later, the media wrote that the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court was considering a case regarding the ownership of 40.19% of the shares of the Poltava mining and processing plant Ferrexpo. By its decision on April 19, the authority left these shares to companies associated with Zhevago.

Knyazev himself was informed of suspicion, and at a meeting of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, its members expressed no confidence in the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which led to the early termination of Knyazev’s powers.

On May 18, the High Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure for Vsevolod Knyazev in the form of detention, but with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 107 million. Lawyers for the ex-chairman of the Supreme Court even filed an appeal against this decision, but the court rejected it. Later, his bail amount was reduced to UAH 75 million, but at the same time his detention was extended. In general, VACS has already extended this preventive measure against Knyazev several times.

At the beginning of November 2023, it became known that the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court refused to satisfy the defense’s appeal to extend Knyazev’s arrest for another two months with the possibility of bail in the amount of 35 million hryvnia.

Removal of the mayor of Rivne

In the summer of 2023, the court suspended the mayor of Rivne, Alexander Tretyak, from his post for a period of one year. Tretyak became the head of the city in 2020, and while running for this post he was the rector of the Rivne Theological Seminary and Academy. He won the elections representing the European Solidarity party.

In the summer of this year, Tretyak received three protocols from NAPC that related to conflicts of interest, but the main one of these three, which led to the removal of the mayor, concerned the appointment of bonuses and allowances to the manager of the executive committee of the Rivne City Council, Maria Korniychuk.

The investigation found that at the time Tretyak was running for mayor, citizen Maria Korniychuk contributed 45 thousand UAH to his election fund. And after Tretyak was elected mayor of Rivne, according to investigators, he initiated the appointment of Korniychuk as manager of the executive committee in the city council. After this appointment, Tretyak wrote out various bonuses and maximum funds for health improvement and bonuses for Korniychuk’s work. Therefore, law enforcement officers consider this a conflict of interest. Therefore, the court decided to suspend Alexander Tretyak for a year from his position as mayor of Rivne , and also imposed a fine on him in the amount of 6,800 UAH.

Mayor of Sumy and the “garbage business”

Another high-profile case of the outgoing year concerns the mayor of Sumy, Oleksandr Lysenko, photo: Oleksandr Lysenko/Facebook, who has been ruling the city for the tenth year. In early October 2023, the SBU detained Lysenko while accepting a bribe . NABU and SAPO also assisted in the arrest. In turn, along with Lysenko was the director of the Department of Infrastructure of the Sumy City Council, Alexander Zhurba. According to investigators, the mayor of the city and his subordinate Zhurba “levied tribute” to the company involved in garbage collection in the city. We are talking about bribes in the amount of more than 2 million UAH.

Officials were later informed of the suspicion. In addition, the court chose a measure of restraint for them in the form of detention. True, the right to post bail in the amount of UAH 3 million was also assigned. Soon this amount was paid for the mayor of Sumy, and Lysenko himself claimed that his friends helped. In turn, the High Anti-Corruption Court decided to remove Lysenko from the post of mayor of Sumy for a period of two months. Recently, the court continued Lysenko's suspension until February 8.

Dubinsky and treason

On November 13, 2023, the SBU conducted searches of MP Alexander Dubinsky. He was later detained. According to the investigation, Dubinsky was part of a criminal organization created by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Dubinsky himself in this organization had the call sign “Buratino”. His responsibilities included shaking the socio-political situation in Ukraine, as well as discrediting our state in the international arena. As part of the pre-trial investigation, it was documented that the defendant spread fakes about the highest military-political leadership of Ukraine. One example of disinformation work is the dissemination of fakes about the alleged interference of Ukrainian officials in the US presidential elections in 2019.

This criminal organization, in addition to Dubinsky, also included former people’s deputy Andrei Derkach, who probably fled to the Russian Federation before the full-scale Russian invasion. It also included former prosecutor Konstantin Kulik.

As for Dubinsky, he was charged with suspicion under two articles at once: “High treason” and “Creation, management of a criminal community or criminal organization, as well as participation in it.” Dubinsky currently faces up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. By court decision, he was sent to a pre-trial detention center for two months without the right to bail. In early December, Dubinsky said that he was beaten in a pre-trial detention center, but after a police check, law enforcement officers refuted the people’s deputy’s statement.

Judge Tandoor and road accident

At the end of May 2023 in Kyiv there was a traffic accident, which claimed the life of a serviceman on duty at the checkpoint. At that time, the driver of the Lexus that caused the accident was the chairman of the Makarovsky District Court of the Kyiv Region, Alexey Tandir. Immediately after the incident, a police crew arrived at the scene. The patrol officers asked Tandoor to take a blood alcohol test, but the judge refused. By the way, the police found bottles of alcohol in the judge’s car.

Later, Tandyr was informed of suspicion, and at the end of May the judge was sent to a pre-trial detention center without the right to bail. Already in July, the results of a forensic psychological examination were made public, confirming that Tandir was drunk at the time of the accident. It was also proven that the judge took all possible measures to hide traces of alcohol intoxication, knowing how to do this thanks to his professional skills. In addition, it was proven that at the time of the accident, the car driven by Alexey Tandir was moving at a speed of 100 km/h. It should be noted that back in June, the High Council of Justice temporarily removed Tandir from the post of head of the Makarovsky District Court.

In total, during the investigation, almost 20 various examinations were carried out to prove Tandoor’s guilt. The pre-trial investigation was completed in August. Now Alexey Tandir is awaiting a court verdict in a pre-trial detention center.

The Odarchenko case and a bribe in cryptocurrency

On November 21, it became known that people’s deputy from the Servant of the People faction Andrei Odarchenko had been detained. According to NABU and SAP, the people's deputy offered bribes in cryptocurrency equivalent to $50 thousand to the head of the State Agency for Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development, Mustafa Nayem. According to investigators, in exchange for bribes, Odarchenko asked for help in allocating funds from the fund for eliminating the consequences of Russian aggression. The people's deputy wanted to use these funds to repair the infrastructure facility he controlled. After funds from the fund were allocated, the first tranche of the bribe in the equivalent of 10 thousand dollars went to the crypto wallet of the head of the State Agency.

By the way, from the very beginning Nayem contacted the anti-corruption authorities, saying that a people’s deputy was offering him a bribe. Odarchenko was charged with suspicion under the article of the criminal code “Promising a bribe or giving a bribe to an official.” After this, the High Anti-Corruption Court sent Odarchenko to a pre-trial detention center with bail of 15 million hryvnia. Subsequently, this amount was paid for him and the people's deputy was released from the pre-trial detention center.

By the way, after this corruption scandal, Andrei Odarchenko was expelled from the Servant of the People party.

People's Deputy Gunko and the land of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences

In August 2023 MP from the Servant of the People Anatoly Gunko was exposed for taking a bribe. According to investigators, the parliamentarian, in exchange for money from the businessman, promised to help him provide land to the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. Gunko himself was exposed in the red when receiving the first tranche of a bribe in the amount of 85 thousand dollars. The total amount of the bribe was supposed to be more than 220 thousand dollars.

The day after Gunko’s arrest, suspicion was announced to him, and the court sent the people’s deputy into custody for two months with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 30 million hryvnia. On August 10, Anatoly Gunko was expelled from the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada.

In October, the HACS Appeals Chamber decided to leave the people's deputy in custody, but reduced the amount of bail from 30 million hryvnia to 10 million. At the beginning of November 2023, Gunko was released from the pre-trial detention center on bail and even appeared at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada.

In early December, it became known that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office had completed an investigation into the case of MP Anatoly Gunko about receiving $85,000 in bribes for land agreements.

People's Deputy Labazyuk and a bribe to officials

On November 21, 2023, it became known that MP from the “For the Future” faction Sergei Labazyuk was suspected of providing a bribe to the Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine and the head of the State Agency for Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development. According to investigators, the MP wanted to bribe top officials so that his company would be given the right to restore infrastructure worth one billion hryvnia. Labazyuk himself, according to the investigation, promised officials 3-5% of each contract for restoration.

After Labazyuk’s company received the first 50 million hryvnia for a contract to restore a destroyed bridge in one of the regions of the country, the people’s deputy attracted a trusted person who transferred 150 thousand dollars from the parliamentarian to the top official.

Then, after his arrest, the High Anti-Corruption Court sent Sergei Labazyuk into custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of more than 40 million hryvnia. Almost immediately, the people's deputy exercised his right of bail and left the pre-trial detention center. However, he was given an electronic bracelet and was also required to hand over his passport.

So, as we see, the past year has been very rich in arrests of top politicians for various corruption schemes and more. Moreover, even some elected representatives from the pro-government faction in parliament were detained. So far, some of them have been released from the pre-trial detention center on bail, and some are still there. Therefore, next year we should probably expect court verdicts on top politicians who got burned by bribes.