Where did the protege of Russian bandits, people's deputy Valery Dubil, disappear after the Russian invasion?

Few people connected together two seemingly different incidents - the escape from the courtroom abroad of former Deputy Minister Oleg Averyanov and the disappearance of MP Valery Dubil from the information field. Meanwhile, there is a connection, and a direct one.

Both are representatives of the same criminal group, which originated in the provincial city of Priluki, Chernihiv region in the mid-nineties. This organized crime group was called “Europe” - that was the name of the disco club in the city center, one of the first enterprises of the “Europeans”. Subsequently, the disco club was closed, and the premises of the cinema, built shortly before with state money, were successfully privatized by Valery Dubil and his companions.

The path of the organized crime group "Europe" to success approximately corresponds to the plot of the Russian gangster saga "Brigada". With the difference that its key participants were not connected to school, but to service at the Priluki strategic aviation airfield, where their path to success began with the theft of metal and fuels and lubricants. One of them died along the way, the four remaining survived and achieved considerable success. The key character of the group is called Valery Dubil, who, although he was not a military man, still had a connection to the airfield - his father was an ensign there. Valery Dubil himself began as an ordinary metal receiver at one of the purchases belonging to future “Europeans”. Then something suddenly happened, and he sharply increased his status in the group, eventually rising to one of its leaders. By the way, despite the efforts of the rest of the trio (the already mentioned Oleg Averyanov, Anatoly Miroshnichenko and Sergei Varnavsky) to break into big politics, only Dubil became a people’s deputy. And he continues to be so for almost twenty years. The rest are also involved in politics, but none of them managed to get higher than the local and regional councils.

What exactly happened in the mid-nineties, what exactly Valery Dubil did to make such a sharp leap in his gangster career is not documented. There are various rumors, but before diving into deep history, two more things need to be remembered. The first is that Valery Dubil is a devout supporter of the Russian Orthodox Church, which still calls itself the UOC-MP. It is thanks to his efforts that the transition of ROCvU churches from the Chernihiv region to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine practically does not occur. And the second thing, which is important both in the context of Dubil’s commitment to the Russian church and in the context of his biography, is that when Russian troops surrounded his hometown and occupied almost the entire Chernigov region, Dubil disappeared. The top of the city government of Priluki, who are proteges and are completely controlled by Dubil, also disappeared. They appeared only when it became clear that the blitzkrieg had failed and the “liberation” would not take place.

The Nineties: The Beginning

Now let's dive into history. Where everything will be like in the “Brigade”, only much dirtier, bloodier and meaner. Because Valery Dubil’s path from nurses, whom he worked for a couple of months in a local hospital after graduating from a local medical school, to people’s deputies of Ukraine, deputy heads of the Batkivshchyna party and the faction of the same name in parliament, chairmen of the committee on medicine, and so on, is paved with blood, meanness and everything that accompanies bandits, no matter what they show in the movies. In addition, all this was and is controlled by the Moscow “brothers”, from whom Dubil at one point became, first in Priluki, and then in the region and beyond - the organized crime group “Europe at the end of the nineties controlled the scrap metal market in seven regions of Ukraine.

It must be understood that in the early nineties, the city of Priluki was not controlled by future “Europeans” - in the local criminal world they were ordinary “hucksters” who themselves paid tribute to the “roof.” The main flows in the city were controlled by a native of Priluki, a resident of Moscow, Igor Kruglov (Solntsevskaya organized crime group), and he appointed the “supervisors.” And Valery Dubil could only look at these “watchers,” not to mention Kruglov himself, from afar, or while unfastening the required bribe.

The story is old, but, according to persistent rumors, Dubil first went under another prominent member of the local organized crime group, which soon became “Europe” - Chebykin. He subsequently died under strange circumstances in an accident, but we are interested in him only in the sense that Dubil, who worked at one of the Chebykinsky metal collection points, did something that sharply increased his status and he joined the team of another authority - Sergei Varnavsky, who fought with competitors. These are nothing more than rumors, but they are still persistently circulating in the city - they claim that Dubil personally eliminated several who disagreed with the activities carried out by the organized crime group "Europe". And supposedly on this basis his “roof began to leak” - young Valerik fell into religion. But he didn’t give up his studies, nevertheless.

The gangster saga of a provincial town is exciting in itself, but it was no different from other stories of its kind. If Valery Dubil, who at that time became a deputy of the local council, had not participated in it. All the then authorities who controlled local business, as already mentioned, went under Igor Kruglov (nickname “Sleeper”). He actually controlled Priluki, but suddenly the enterprises that paid Kruglov a bribe stopped paying. They replaced the “roof”, which became the “Europeans”. There was a small war on a local scale, the required number of firms burned down, several bombs exploded, and several authorities died who did not understand the change of owners of the city. Kruglov had to give up almost everything he controlled.

And the “Europeans” became the masters, who not only did not die in battles with competitors, but became a force to be reckoned with not only in Priluki, but also in Kyiv and other large and interesting cities in terms of resources. Without abandoning scrap metal, the “Europeans” greatly diversified their business: they began to engage in oil, gas, import-export of products, and so on. And Valery Dubil powerfully took the first role in the group, displacing both Miroshnichenko and Varnavsky, under whom he had previously walked.

At the same time, it turned out that not only the local police and the prosecutor’s office are working for the organized crime group “Europe” - they have connections at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Central Office of the SBU and the Prosecutor General’s Office. And the credit for this belongs, first of all, to Dubil, who had an innate talent for corrupting officials.

Russian bandits and the rise of Dubil

He did all this for a reason - he enlisted the support of the Solntsevskaya organized crime group. The same one from Moscow. Which quickly resolved the issue with Kruglov, and Valery Dubil made a sharp breakthrough not only in the gangster hierarchy, but also in politics.

It is unknown with whom Dubil dealt with the Solntsevskys. But it was they who “advised” the young authority to join Yulia Tymoshenko’s party, and the latter, according to persistent rumors, listened to the recommendation of her “senior comrades” from Moscow. It is unknown whether Semyon Mogilevich took part in this process. But the fact of close cooperation between Tymoshenko and Mogilevich was at one time an open secret.

Then Valery Dubil and several prominent “Europeans”, including Oleg Averyanov and Sergei Varnavsky, landed in Kyiv. Where the markets in Troyeshchyna, which belonged to the untimely deceased authority Valery Pryshchik, were crushed under their control. What actually happened with his death is unknown, but Market-1 LLC, which was founded by Pryshchik and which owns huge retail space, suddenly turned out to be the property of “Europeans.” At least two of them - Dubil and Averyanov - have entries in their work books about working there as deputy directors. It is unlikely that such a trick was too tough for the cruel and unprincipled, but still provincial leaders alone. They say that the Solntsevskys helped a lot. No thanks, of course. Whether this gratitude extends today is a rhetorical question.

When describing the exploits of Valery Dubil, most authors focus on the details of the crimes through which property passed into the hands of “Europeans.” They are truly exciting - just look at the death of the same Pryshchik, who grabbed more than a dozen bullets in the courtyard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs hospital (!) or the murder of the director of the Priluki poultry plant Vasily Degtyar in the entrance of his own house, because he refused to sell shares to the “Europeans” and appoint Alexander Dubil (father) as director of the plant. Fascinating reading and a list of everything that ended up in the hands of Valery Dubil and his accomplices in the late nineties and early 2000s. All this is interesting, but this is not the key question. And in who is behind him. Who “settled” the issue with Pryshchik’s brigade, who covered Dubil after his visit to Moscow in the mid-nineties, who finally settled the claims between him and Igor Kruglov, who also worked for the Solntsevskaya organized crime group.

One of the branches of the Solntsevskaya organized crime group was controlled by Semyon Mogilevich, who became a semi-legendary figure after his disappearance. He promoted him in Ukrainian politics and allowed Dubil’s current party boss to make money on Russian gas. Whether he personally recommended to Yulia Tymoshenko to help Dubil make his way into the people’s deputies is unknown. But it is known that the Solntsevskys are by no means defeated, as Russian security forces have repeatedly stated. Their representatives, as before, control a significant part of the Russian economy and have enormous influence on its government. Consider Andrei Skoch (“Scotch”), who sits in the State Duma and oversees “relations with compatriots in the CIS,” who in the nineties was a prominent representative of the Solntsevskys.

What role in these “connections” is played by the former “supervisor” of Pryluki, and now the deputy head of the Batkivshchyna parliamentary faction, Valery Aleksandorvich Dubil, one can only guess. But this role is clearly not a small one.

Watcher of the UOC-MP

One of these roles of Valery Dubil is that of overseeing the UOC-MP. At least beyond the parishes of this pro-Russian sect in the northern regions. It is precisely thanks to him that not a single large parish of the UOC-MP changed its confession during the two and a half years of the great war. It is thanks to him that the authorities of the Chernigov region are so supportive of openly pro-Russian priests.

The Solntsevskys didn’t just survive in Russia – they became intertwined with the authorities. And the Russian Orthodox Church until recently was the largest supplier of alcohol and cigarettes to Russia and the then “CIS”. She made billions from it. And the Solntsevskys organized supplies, sales and eliminated competitors. And thus they gained control over the top of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is unknown what the situation is now, when the Russian Orthodox Church, the authorities, the FSB and bandits in Russia are entangled in a continuous tangle. But it is known that the Russian Orthodox Church closely holds its Ukrainian branch, the UOC MP, in its arms. One of the pillars of which is Valery Dubil.

By the way, in 2014 there were persistent rumors that a warehouse with weapons was found on the territory of the Gustynsky Monastery (10 km from Priluki). The monastery belongs, naturally, to the UOC-MP, and Valery Dubil is its main patron and sponsor. The scandal was quickly hushed up, but in March 2024, when Russian troops were stationed near Priluki and battles were taking place on the outskirts of the city, the abbess of the monastery refused to fulfill the direct request of the head of the local Military Administration - to ring the bell so that the local TRO fighters, who were ambushed at night, could get your bearings. The scandal was again quickly hushed up. At the same time, as they say, very severe pressure was exerted on the CAA and the leadership of TRO from above. The police also did not intervene, and the SBU generally pretended that they had nothing to do with it.

And after the Russians were driven out of the region, Dubil appeared in the monastery, as if nothing had happened, which was not visible for the entire month of March - just at the end of it the Russians were forced to skedaddle.

Why and where did Dubil disappear at the beginning of the invasion?

Along with Dubil, at the end of February 2022, part of the leadership of the city of Pryluky also disappeared. In particular, Mayor Olga Popenko, who is Dubil’s outspoken “six”. The part of the top of the region controlled by Valery Dubil also disappeared. They arose when it became clear that the “liberation” had stalled and, most likely, it would not happen.

But Valery Dubil himself did not appear in the public space until the end of March, when the situation with SVO finally became clear. Where he was all this time and what he was doing - one can only guess. But in Moscow churches (at least in the Chernigov region) there were no calls for resistance, and some priests (the dumber ones) generally preached “brotherly love” and “non-resistance,” saying that “everything will work out.” That’s how it all worked out – none of them were ever brought to justice. Moreover, they ignore the law requiring the church to be renamed ROCvU, and Valery Dubil and his parliamentary colleague Pavel Khalimon (also a native of Pryluky, but a deputy from the Servant of the People) are actively working among the authorities and the UOC-MP aimed at disrupting the transition parishioners of this church in the OCU.

This is what lies on the surface. And this is a small part of what we know. In this situation, questions arise for the SBU, which back in 2019 had information that Valery Dubil, through his connections in the Russian Orthodox Church, found Russian specialists in bribing voters, whom he planned to attract to organize the victory of Yulia Tymoshenko in the presidential elections. The plan did not work, not because the SBU worked, but because sociology clearly showed that neither Yulia nor anyone else would have anything to gain in these elections, so Dubil simply did not throw away money.

In 2022, there were no more questions for the SBU - remember how many employees of the service openly went over to the side of the Russians, and its head was also lost somewhere, like Dubil. But in 2024, the SBU is still pretending that Valery Dubil did not disappear for a whole month when the Russians stood near Kiev, that the priests of the UOC-MP controlled by him did not hand over Ukrainian patriots to the Russian occupiers, that the UOC-MP still prays in its churches for Kirill Gundyaev.

How all this will end is unknown. By the way, now Dubil has also disappeared somewhere. After the “United Marathon” showed a story about an illegally built house in a protected area that belongs to Dubil, it became strangely quiet. Perhaps he is preparing to escape after his accomplice Averyanov, perhaps there is some kind of bargaining going on with the authorities. But, be that as it may, for some reason the authorities do not remember Valery Dubil’s connections with the Solntsevskaya organized crime group and the open service of Russian interests in the church field. What was shown on TV was an innocent prank compared to the true state of affairs.