The drama of the “servant” of Marchenko and the war for gold of the Virastyuks

Ukrainian parliamentarians divide property and find out where the children came from

In 2023, for the first time during the full-scale war in Ukraine, the number of divorces increased sharply - 24,108 versus 17,893 recorded in 2022. There is a simple explanation for this: the war separated many Ukrainian families: wives and children abroad, husbands in Ukraine. Or the husband is mobilized at the front, and the wife is at home. Couples who have not seen each other for months, and some for two years, cannot stand this test.

The divorce epidemic has reached the Verkhovna Rada. In the fall of 2023, the “Commander in Chief” counted more than a dozen people’s representatives who, already during the invasion, were deprived of their “married” status. In 2024, this process has only gained momentum.

On January 2, the Zenkovsky District Court of Poltava made the “servant” Alexander Gorenyuk a bachelor. “Family life did not work out, the parties do not live together. The plaintiff does not see any grounds for reconciliation,” the people’s deputy, who was supported by the court, briefly noted.

According to Gorenyuk’s e-declaration for 2022, with the outbreak of the great war, the parliamentarian’s ex-wife and son moved to Germany.

On January 18, the Central District Court of Nikolaev dissolved the marriage of the Chernomorovs, who had lived together for 14 years. People's Deputy from Servant of the People Artem Chernomorov initiated the divorce, saying: he and his wife do not find a common language on most issues of family life, there is no mutual understanding and initial feelings have been lost. Moreover, his family, according to the e-declaration for 2022, left Ukraine and lives in Germany.

In early February, the ex-wife of Sergei Rudik, the ex-wife of Sergei Rudik, a member of the “For the Future” group, filed a lawsuit, probably seeking alimony. The fact is that at the end of November 2023 the Rudyk couple divorced. The parliamentarian, who is currently fighting, publicly admitted: being a “Skype dad” for 21 months is difficult for everyone, but for the military it is a special test. Separately, Rudik thanked his wife for 10 years of married life and expressed hope that problems in adult relationships will not affect relationships with children.

People's Deputy from the Batkivshchyna VO Andrey Puziychuk and his wife Yulia are no longer together. Before going to court, the politician, who is the father of three minor children, entered into an agreement on participation in the upbringing and maintenance of children and on the payment of alimony. The parties also agreed on where their children would live. At the same time, as evidenced by the people’s deputy’s e-declaration, in 2022 his ex-wife and children temporarily lived in Montenegro.

Family battles between the people's deputy and strongman from the Servants of the People Vasily Virastyuk and his better half Inna do not subside. Their divorce case has been in the capital's court since May 2023...

Virastyukov gold bars

As “Glavkom” previously wrote, the wife of the chosen one won the court to collect alimony from her husband in favor of his two sons. Inna Virastyuk explained: with the beginning of the war, she was forced to leave Ukraine and lived abroad for several months. As a result of this, she says, her marital relationship with her husband ceased, and Vasily in no way provided support to the minor children.

So, after winning the case, Virastyuk’s wife encroached on the cash and a gold bar weighing 1 kilogram, which her husband, the People’s Deputy, has been declaring since 2020. According to the electronic declaration for 2022, Vasily Virastyuk reflected $300 thousand in cash, which is his property, and $100 thousand in cash, which belongs to his wife. In addition, the politician declared a gold bar weighing 1 kg worth UAH 1.64 million, noting that his wife owned the precious metal.

At the same time, in court, Inna Virastyuk decided to pull off an unexpected combination. She knocked down all the declared cash ($400 thousand) and asked the court to recognize it as common joint property. At the same time, she insisted on collecting $200 thousand from her husband.

In another part of the lawsuit, the chosen one’s wife sought to dot the i’s in the issue of using gold (a kilogram of the precious metal consists of ten bars of 100 grams each). According to her, her husband, the MP, at his own discretion, not in the interests of the family, disposes of the gold reserves. Inna Virastyuk brought receipts for the purchase and sale of bank metal to the court and emphasized: she acquired the gold before her marriage to the people’s deputy.

The parliamentarian categorically opposed the division of his savings. According to his explanations, the money ran out during 2022-2023. Part of it was spent on renting housing for Virastyuk’s family in Poland, where his wife and children left with the beginning of the invasion. Cash was also spent on renting housing in Ivano-Frankivsk, medical and educational services, as well as volunteer assistance.

In the end, Themis ruled: Vasily Virastyuk must give his wife $100 thousand (the court took into account that Inna reflected the ownership of $100 thousand in cash in her declaration. That is, together we get the amount of $200 thousand that the plaintiff insisted on). And only in dollars, without conversion to hryvnia.

But with gold there was an odd situation. The court stated that the plaintiff did not provide the necessary documents confirming ownership (the date of purchase of the bullion, the client’s signature are missing). Moreover, the people's deputy, for his part, convinced: gold bars are common family property. As a result, Themis refused to recognize Inna Virastyuk’s ownership of ten gold bars weighing 100 grams each.

Now People's Deputy Virastyuk is challenging this court decision in the appellate instance. Apparently, the politician is not happy with the court's order to give his $100 thousand to his wife, with whom he is in the process of divorcing.

Paternity test, alimony and division of property

But the story of the divorce of deputy “servant” Lyudmila Marchenko and her military husband Ivan Marchenko, in terms of the severity of the plot, is worthy of a film adaptation.

Let us remember that in July 2023, this parliamentarian made a splash throughout the country - the National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced that she was suspected of abuse of influence due to trading in border crossing permits. The criminal case is now being considered by the High Anti-Corruption Court.

By the way, the leadership of the party in power reacted to the corruption scandal in a cunning way. On the one hand, to please the public, Mrs. Marchenko was expelled from the Servant of the People party. On the other hand, she still remains a member of the parliamentary mono-majority and is part of the “servants of the people” faction.

But let's return to Marchenko's marriage, which is cracking. The divorce process has been ongoing since at least April 2022. First, Lyudmila Marchenko began collecting alimony from her husband in favor of her son (for 2022, the Academy of Ground Forces named after Hetman Petro Sagaidachny, where Ivan Marchenko works, transferred 23.5 thousand UAH in alimony). By the way, the law does not prohibit the payment of alimony when the spouses are officially married.

After collecting alimony, Marchenko went to another court, demanding a divorce. Themis stopped the consideration because the husband was in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. A year later, in the summer of 2023, the woman changed her mind and withdrew her claim. The reason was her... pregnancy - as stated in the court order.

After the birth of her daughter, Lyudmila Marchenko once again “restrained” her husband through the court: Ivan Marchenko must pay alimony for the maintenance of his newly born daughter until she reaches adulthood.

However, the man did not recognize the second child and went to court to find out who the real father was. In particular, a forensic molecular genetic examination is currently ongoing, which Themis entrusted to experts from the Kyiv Scientific Research Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After all, as Ivan Marchenko said during the court hearing, since February 2022 he has not had any contact with his wife, the people’s deputy.

Moreover, Lyudmila Marchenko’s husband tried to get a divorce after the birth of their second child. However, Themis did not allow it, since the child was under one year old (the Family Code contains such a prohibition).

In addition, at the end of autumn 2023, the Marchenkos divided their property in court through a settlement agreement.

The editors tried to hear the position of each of Marchenko’s spouses. Lyudmila Marchenko read the corresponding message in the messenger, but did not react in any way. Ivan Marchenko’s lawyer forwarded the request to the client, but he also decided not to comment on the process.