On February 23, a message appeared that a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry minibus was detained in Hungary, in which the driver, an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Larisa Shmeleva, the wife of the first secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary, Dmitry Shmeleva, were detained.
In the minibus, 141 thousand packs of cigarettes were found in cardboard boxes wrapped in black foil. The driver was taken into custody and faces 8 years in prison. Larisa Shmeleva was not detained due to diplomatic immunity.
In fact, the Hungarians showed that high-ranking Ukrainian officials created an illegal smuggling channel.
On the same day, a representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced an internal audit. But for some reason, neither the President of Ukraine, nor the Minister of Foreign Affairs, nor the head of the State Border Guard Service, nor anyone has reported on the results of the audit in the case that discredits Ukraine.
In Ukraine, NABU officers took over the investigation of this case.
On May 2, NABU detectives conducted searches in the 27th border detachment of the Transcarpathian region. NABU is investigating the involvement of border guards in providing a smuggling channel to Europe, which was created by Foreign Ministry diplomats.
According to Censor.Net sources, up to 8 minibuses with diplomatic insignia could have been used through the smuggling channel for the transportation of cigarettes, and the passengers of these minibuses were persons covered by the diplomatic immunity of Ukraine, namely: M.P. Kugaevskaya. – wife of the first secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary Kotsyurba A.A., Shmelev L.M. – wife of the first secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine in Hungary Shmeleva D.A., Zagorskaya N.V. – wife of an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Zagorsky A.V., Galan R.V., Gavrish O.B., Romanyuk P.P. and other persons. The information is being verified.
Obviously, a group of people is a sign of a group that was created and led by someone significantly higher in status and influence.
According to media reports, smuggling across the state border can be controlled by one of Vladimir Zelensky’s confidants, one of the organizers of the Servant of the People party, Vadim Slyusarev, once a major general of the border service, who under Zelensky became one of the richest businessmen in Ukraine and during the war bought many businesses. Journalists wrote about Slyusarev’s long-term involvement in cigarette smuggling in 2021:
I hope that this scandal will receive an official explanation from the president, who is legally responsible for our foreign policy, from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and that everyone who created and collected money for smuggling will at least be removed from power
