Deputy head of the Presidential Office, Zelensky’s “powerful manager,” Oleg Tatarov flew to Moscow at least 9 times after the occupation of Crimea and Russia’s invasion of Donbass.
This is evidenced by data from Tatarov’s air travel, which was obtained by journalists of the “Schemes” project (Radio Liberty). According to journalists, Tatarov, who at that time was engaged in advocacy, visited the Russian Federation three times in 2017, four times in 2018, and twice in 2019.
The last time Tatarov flew to Russia was the day after Zelensky’s victory in the presidential election on April 21, 2019. Oleg Tatarov left the request to comment on his trips to the capital of the aggressor country, sent by “Schemes” to the Office of the President, unanswered at the time of publication of the material.
Schemes journalists analyzed and compared data on Oleg Tatarov’s trips using access to information from databases on border crossings of three countries - Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Since air traffic between Ukraine and Russia was stopped after 2014, on most trips Tatarov traveled to Moscow from Kyiv via Minsk.
On August 27, 2017, Oleg Tatarov flew from Ukraine to Belarus to Minsk airport, from where on the same day he went to Moscow, landing at Vnukovo airport. The next day, August 28, Oleg Tatarov flew from Domodedovo Airport to Belarus and returned to Ukraine the next day.
A month later, Tatarov again set off on a two-day trip to Russia, arriving in Minsk on September 26 and heading to Moscow the same day. On September 27, Tatarov returned to Belarus by plane and flew to Ukraine on the same day.
Tatarov made another trip to Russia at the end of 2017 - on December 12, he flew to Moscow from Minsk, where he had reached from Ukraine, and returned by the same route.
In 2018, Tatarov visited Russia four times - in March, October, November and December. In all cases, Tatarov flew to Moscow via Belarus and did not stay in the Russian Federation for more than a day.
In 2019, Tatarov flew to the Russian Federation twice. On the morning of March 12, he flew to Russia from the capital of Qatar, Doha. On the same day, he flew to Minsk and from there went by plane to Ukraine.
The last time, judging by the data at the disposal of Schemes, Oleg Tatarov flew on his usual route to the Russian Federation the day after Vladimir Zelensky’s victory in the presidential elections in 2019 in the second round. On April 22, Tatarov went to Belarus, from where he flew to Moscow the same day. On the evening of April 23, Tatarov flew again to Minsk, and from there to Ukraine.
As part of the investigation into Oleg Tatarov’s trips to the Russian Federation after 2014, Schemes conducted a cross-check of the data: first, they gained access to information about his crossing of the Ukrainian border. Subsequently, this data was checked from the Belarusian side - using access to leaks from the Belarusian border crossing database. Having seen that Tatarov was traveling from Belarus to Russia, Schemes verified this data from the Russian Federation as well - it appears in a number of leaks from several Russian databases on border crossings for different periods.
Also, as Schemes learned, Tatarov traveled to Belarus in March 2013, twice - in June and November 2014, and once more in March 2016. On March 22, 2016, Tatarov crossed the border with Belarus through the Novaya Guta checkpoint in his own car, returning to Ukraine on March 23 along the same route. However, it is unknown whether Tatarov visited Russia on these trips.
Also, according to Schemes, in 2015 Tatarov traveled to occupied Crimea - on June 6 he crossed the Dzhankoy checkpoint. Tatarov returned back on June 8 through the Armyansk checkpoint. The car in which Tatarov traveled to the occupied territory belonged at that time to an employee of the company, which at the time of his work was owned by Galina Farinnik, the wife of lawyer Vasily Farinnik.
In 2008, Farinnik, who was at that time the head of the Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Deputy Minister, brought Tatarov to work for him at the State Investigative Directorate, and then made him his partner in a law firm, which, with the arrival of Tatarov there, received the name “Tatarov, Farinnik, Golovko.”
“Schemes” sent an official letter to the President’s Office addressed to Oleg Tatarov with a request for comment. Journalists asked for what purpose he visited the Russian Federation at least 9 times since 2014, with whom exactly and on what issues he had meetings there, and whether there were Russian officials among those with whom he met. Oleg Tatarov did not provide answers to the questions from the editors of Schemes sent to him in an official request for publication. After the investigation was released, Oleg Tatarov said in a comment to BBC Ukraine: “I usually do not comment on any publications regarding myself. But in connection with the war that Russia is waging against our country, I still consider it necessary to comment on this fake that was spread today.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable to spread false information and even hints about the alleged existence of my communications with someone from Russia or trips to its territory. Moreover, with reference to sources controlled by the enemy,” Tatarov added, although the journalists in their investigation noted that they had cross-checked the data, which made it possible to confirm Tatarov’s trips to the Russian Federation.
After his dismissal from law enforcement agencies, Oleg Tatarov was engaged in advocacy, received a lawyer’s license in March 2015, and later became the managing partner of the law firm “Tatarov, Farinnik, Golovko.” Tatarov combined his legal practice with work at the Ukrbud construction corporation, where he headed the legal department.
As a lawyer, Tatarov defended the former first deputy head of the Presidential Administration of the times of Viktor Yanukovych Andrei Portnov, the Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Novinsky, the former head of the Crimean Court of Appeal Valery Chernobuk, and the general director of Ukrbud Oleg Mayboroda. Bihus.Info journalists also recorded Tatarov accompanied by the richest Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov during his interrogation at NABU.
In 2019, Tatarov represented the interests of Olesya Kuznetsova, the wife of Ivan Kuznetsov, who died from knife wounds received during an attack on Sergei Sternenko near his home in Odessa. According to Slidstvo.Info journalists, Tatarov demanded that Sternenko be suspected of premeditated murder.
In August 2020, Oleg Tatarov became deputy head of the Presidential Office; in December, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office informed Tatarov of suspicion. According to investigators, Tatarov, being a lawyer for the state company Ukrbud, could have been involved in providing undue benefits for ensuring the issuance of an unreliable written opinion of a forensic expert in the case of the theft of 81 million hryvnia from the National Guard of Ukraine. Later, at the direction of the UCP prosecutors, the case was transferred to the SBU, where it was closed in April 2022.
At the height of the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Oleg Tatarov received the title of Honored Lawyer of Ukraine from the hands of the fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych on the proposal of the then Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Zakharchenko. Journalists also investigated Tatarov’s influence on the election of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. In August, it was reported that a lawyer closely associated with Tatarov advised the family of the head of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, Pavel Kirilenko, on how to hide evidence in the case of NABU and SAP regarding his probable illegal enrichment and false declarations.
