Since the first appearance in Donetsk of separatists from neighboring Russia, who, together with local titushki, staged a protracted anti-Ukrainian Sabbath that continues to this day, Donetsk residents have not ceased to be tormented by one question: whose side is the Donetsk police on. Residents of the rest of Ukraine, completely far from the local realities, understood even less.
Thimble as a vocation
After the events of the last two days that took place in the capital of Donbass, the critical attitude of more or less conscious Donetsk residents towards their fellow countrymen in uniform has reached its climax. Social networks were filled with angry posts against the security forces, and accusatory publications appeared in the media. The cup of popular indignation spilled out onto Rinat Akhmetov, who was initially, at the instigation of the new Ukrainian government, presented as the only person capable of maintaining order in the problem region. The owner of Donbass even had to go out to the pro-Russian rally protesters late yesterday evening, leaving the royal chambers of the “Lux”. Obviously, Akhmetov hoped to convince his fellow citizens of his non-involvement in what was happening through a television picture in which he was trying to convince the separatists that “Donetsk is Ukraine.”
It is unlikely that he will succeed. Any resident of Donbass, regardless of gender, age and political preferences, knows that without Akhmetov’s sanction, nothing global can happen in these parts a priori. Especially in the absence of Yanukovych and the Family in the country. The police are even more so in Rinat’s “sixes”. Since the late 90s. Ever since the official power in the region finally merged with the criminal and business power. And now even more so. Akhmetov has probably never achieved power similar to the current one in forceful control over the region.
Today, the Donetsk region police are subordinate to Avakov only nominally. De facto, all candidates for police mayors are not approved in Kyiv. Donbass has once again been handed over to the Donetsk people. Otherwise, how else can one explain the appointment of so many odious figures to the positions of chief police officers in the regional administration, as well as in the cities and villages of Donbass?
I justify my words by presenting little-known facts from the life and activities of newly appointed police chiefs and those for whom their positions are still being prepared. You won't find this information in official biographies. In order to collect bit by bit all the information below, I had to talk with a certain number of former and current law enforcement officers from among my old, time-tested acquaintances. For obvious reasons, they all wished to remain anonymous. Nevertheless, I believe that in the current difficult conditions it would be simply criminal to suppress this information.
The police are also rotting from the top
Konstantin Pozhidaev and Yuriy Lutsenko. Photo source donbass.ua
I’ll start, perhaps, with the head of the police of the Donetsk region, one hundred percent Akhmetov’s protege - Konstantin Pozhidaev. In one of my previous articles, I mentioned that after the Orange Revolution, at the beginning of 2005, Pozhidaev suddenly left the post of deputy head of the Organized Crime Control Department of the Donetsk region and headed the security service of the same DTEK owned by Akhmetov. Since the mid-90s, Pozhidaev was more than closely connected not only with Akhmetov, but also with such “authoritative” representatives of the Donetsk clan as Mikhail Lyashko and Givi Nemsadze. One of my acquaintances, a veteran of the Organized Crime Control Department, was very surprised in 2006 how the current head of the Donetsk regional police was not put behind bars at all. Then, during the “orange thaw,” the case of the bloody organized crime group Nemsadze, which, according to law enforcement officers, was responsible for dozens of contract killings, was in full swing.
Givi Nemsadze. Photo source argumentua.com
Pozhidaev’s close relatives deserve special attention in the context of today’s events. Two weeks ago, a military unit located on the territory of the mine named after. Volodarsky in the village of Paraskaveevka, Artemovsky district, Donetsk region. The military personnel were guarding mobilization warehouses with weapons, and they received an order to send them to those deployed under the Acting Decree. President of Ukraine reservists. The gathered crowd, consisting of drunken Cossacks and local residents, prevented the removal of weapons and ammunition. Journalists even recorded the fact of transportation of funds in a car with Russian license plates. The soldiers received threats and offers to sell weapons to the protesters. Meanwhile, the command of the military unit telephoned the police and the SBU, but no response was taken. So, it is significant that the cousin and nephew of the chief of police of the Donetsk region, Oleg and Sergei Pozhidaev, respectively, took part in the blockade.
Donetsk Organized Crime Control Department on a short leash with Akhmetov
Denis Arabey has been Pozhidaev’s eternal deputy, almost since his return from DTEK to the ranks of fighters against organized crime in 2007. This young man was not only under the command of the current chief police officer of the region in Donetsk, but also for some time headed the Organized Crime Control Department of the Kirovograd region under the leadership of the head of the Kirovograd Regional Ministry of Internal Affairs, which since 2011 has been headed by the same Pozhidaev.
However, in 2013, Arabey suddenly left his police service. My sources claim that Pozhidaev was simply tired of the antics of his subordinate, who was rapidly losing control of himself as he grew in his career, in general, and as he drank or smoked, in particular. Some visitors to one of the restaurants in the center of Donetsk could tell about this, who one fine evening became victims of the behavior of a drunken police major, who for fun threw champagne bottles at them from his table.
34-year-old Denis owes his rise up the career ladder entirely to his mother, who studied at school with the future President Viktor Yanukovych. Rinat Akhmetov has also had warm feelings for Arabey for a long time. Konstantin Pozhidaev also forgave the old sins of his sponsor. Denis Arabey was recently reinstated in police service in order to be appointed head of the Organized Crime Control Department in the Donetsk region as soon as possible.
At the same time, Eduard Komissarov was appointed head of the criminal investigation department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the region. This guardian of the law can also easily be considered one of the guards of Akhmetov’s property. Not so long ago, Komissarov headed the security service at the Mariupol Iron and Steel Works. Ilyich, which, as is known, is the property of the richest oligarch in the country. Moreover, he received a salary there that was astronomical by today’s standards - about 50 thousand hryvnia. I would venture to suggest that Komissarov did not return to the authorities, on the salary of even an ordinary police officer, for the sake of a noble desire to eradicate crime. Most likely, a new job promises him new prospects and, accordingly, greater income. Of course, unofficial.
Eduard Komissarov. Photo source mungaz.net
At the same time, Komissarov has no shortage of career ambitions. For example, according to information from sources, this lawyer managed to agree on receiving the rank of police colonel ahead of schedule - a year and a half ahead of schedule. Rumor has it that for a certain bribe.
Another police favorite of Rinat Akhmetov, who ended up in a leadership position in the Donetsk Internal Affairs Directorate, was Sergei Pilgrim. At the end of March, he took the position of deputy chief of the GUMVD - head of the criminal police of the GUMVD in the region. Pilgrim also comes from the Donetsk Organized Crime Control Department. Back in 2010, he was deputy head of the Department for Combating Organized Crime at the regional police department. This man became famous in police circles for having managed to annoy Alexander Yanukovych himself.
About a year after Viktor Yanukovych received the presidential mace, Pilgrim goes on a “trip” to the Poltava region, where he is appointed deputy head of the regional Department of Internal Affairs - head of the regional Organized Crime Control Department. There, despite warnings from his leadership, he tries to get involved in the illegal schemes of an oil refinery in Kremenchug for the sake of his own enrichment. The result of such a short-sighted act is the immediate dismissal of Pilgrim. But he does not remain without work for long, because he goes to work as the deputy head of the Mariupol port for security, which, as is known, is the domain of the oligarch Akhmetov.
Sergey Pilgrim. Photo source donbass.ua
Today, Pilgrim returned to the salary of a police chief, giving up a salary of approximately 70 thousand hryvnia and a police pension of 10 thousand. Also, of course, from the most noble intentions.
What about the region?
The situation is similar with the appointments of police chiefs in all more or less large cities of the Donetsk region.
Perhaps it’s worth starting with the candidate for the post of head of the Dzerzhinsk police, Pavel Panasyuk. Until recently, this personnel could give a head start in terms of influence not only to the heads of regional police departments, but even to the Minister of Internal Affairs himself. The fact is that Panasyuk, who was deputy head of the Yenakievo city police department until 2010, was a member of the Yanukovych family and was very fond of boasting among his colleagues about his friendly relations with the head of state.
The only thing that prevented Panasyuk from climbing the career ladder was the lack of such lofty ambitions. He always had enough income from protecting illegal businesses. For example, drug trafficking, digging or metal collection. Journalists also accused Panasyuk of protecting gambling establishments in Gorlovka, where he was the chief of police until recently.
Panasyuk’s deputy during his leadership of the Gorlovka police was Alexander Matskov. Today the latter is tipped for the post of chief, but for now he is acting. Alexander Nikolaevich was a close friend of the most prominent representative of the Donetsk-Makeevsky clan in power - the late ex-Prime Minister of Crimea Vasily Dzharty, and today maintains close relations with his son-in-law and the husband of Victoria's daughter - People's Deputy from the Party of Regions Valery Omelchenko.
Another Yenakievo personnel is Sergei Korobov, who has now been appointed to the position of deputy head of the department - head of the criminal police of Makeyevka. Former police officers call Korobov a corrupt official, who at one time survived from the post of deputy chief of police in Yanukovych’s hometown, Valery Shtanchenko, who came there as chief police officer. Bolivar couldn't stand two.
Valery Shtanchenko. Photo source lifedon.com.ua
By the way, it was Shtanchenko, who after Yenakievo promoted to deputy head of the Main Directorate - head of the public security police of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Donetsk region, who kept order during the tragic events of March 13, 2014 in Donetsk. In addition, Shtanchenko is one of the main characters of my long-standing journalistic investigation about falsifications of the criminal case against a police officer who was unfairly accused of pedophilia.
Kramatorsk behind the Fence
The new head of the Yasinovat police, Sergei Zabor, also deserves special mention. Another graduate of the OBOP, who previously headed the Kramatorsk interdistrict department for combating organized crime. Former officers say that when he was the head of this department, Zabor and his subordinates provided protection for a criminal group that stole oil from a pipeline in the Krasny Liman area.
Obviously, some high-level connections helped him with the schemes of these communications. Isn’t it the son of ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka, Artem, who is Zabor’s godfather?
Before his new appointment, Zabor headed the police of Kramatorsk - the patrimony of Pshonka and Bliznyuk. In particular, the new head of the Yasinovat police kept order in the work of the conversion centers of the Pshonok family. In addition, Zabor controlled all drug trafficking in Kramatorsk. It is significant that with his then appointment to the post of chief of police of the city, the indicators in terms of solving crimes under Article 307 - “Drug Sales” - sharply increased. The fence cleared out small competitors. After the job was done, the indicators, on the contrary, fell sharply.
Sergey Zabor. Photo source www.kramatorsk.info
Zabor also enriched itself by cutting and selling for scrap metal neglected irrigation systems from the fields of the northern Donetsk region.
The former head of the Konstantinovskaya police, Vitaly Kolupai, recently headed the Kramatorsk police. This lawyer is known for his connections with the mothers of Viktor Pshonka and the former head of the Internal Affairs Directorate in the Donetsk region Nikolai Kupyansky, who live in Konstantinovka. Kolupay regularly gives them fat brakes. True, Vitaly Pavlovich does nothing on his own initiative. Therefore, in Kramatorsk, which is unusually large for him, he will most likely “work” under the leadership of Zabor, who has everything under control there. Before this, Kolupai had been “picking up” crime under the strict guidance of his inspirers - Konstantinovsky interdistrict prosecutor Andrei Shiyan and a native of Konstantinovka, who was fired from the Prosecutor’s Office after the change of power, prosecutor Vadim Lusher.
Greetings from the "dashing 90s"
Few people remember that Vitaly Kolupai in the late 90s was deputy to the odious head of the Kramatorsk OBOP Vladimir Bantush. Kolupay’s later transfer to serve in the Konstantinovskaya police was intended to act as a kind of lightning rod for Bantush, who was fully exposed in scandals with the disappearance of the bandit common fund of the Slavic criminal group “17th Precinct” and the murder of the leader of the organized crime group Ermak.
Here is a brief summary of what appointments took place in the police throughout the Donetsk region after the arrival of the new government. And this list goes on and on. But that's not all. There is a version that Akhmetov is trying to put the Donetsk region under his complete control - to turn it into a khanate named after his beloved. To do this, he not only relies on the Kremlin, but also tries to survive from his posts as governor of Taruta, his protege - the head of the SBU in the Donetsk region Valery Ivanov - and the envoy of Kyiv - the current prosecutor of the Donetsk region Nikolai Frantovsky. Do you think it's not true? It’s better to pay attention to the fact that in recent weeks in Donetsk, DonOGA, Taruta’s office, the building of the regional prosecutor’s office, and even the treasury have been stormed, but not the building of the regional police department...
Artem FURMANYUK, journalist, employee of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine
From the GPU: the material published below is our slightly belated congratulations addressed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Alexander Medvedko in connection with his assignment of the class rank of State Counselor of Justice of Ukraine. This event took place on November 28, 2008, by decree of President Yushchenko, just in time for the professional holiday of prosecutors - the Day of Prosecutor's Office Workers of Ukraine, celebrated on December 1. Let us remind you that in accordance with the “Regulations on class ranks of employees of the prosecutor’s office of Ukraine,” the title of State Counselor of Justice of Ukraine is assigned by status to the current Prosecutor General of Ukraine. From now on, Alexander Medvedko is a full-fledged Prosecutor General with all the necessary regalia. You can calmly work until retirement and retire to a well-deserved retirement. However, the realities of Ukraine are such that this never happens in our country. Either for political reasons, or for other reasons that are not very pleasant for the current prosecutors general. Judging by the information we have, Alexander Medvedko will not escape this “pattern”. We would like to note that the existing tradition, which has deep roots in the Soviet past - to be solemnly awarded with ranks and medals and trinkets, and then quietly “leave” - may work in the current situation, although public “flogging” is not excluded. The information provided to us by an anonymous author is a “bomb” for the Prosecutor General in the truest sense of the word. In Ukraine, nothing is ever done just like that, so if surveillance occurs, then wiretapping is carried out, and then the results of these “research” are leaked to the press - which means that the participants in these events become objects of some kind of games that are unknown to us, ordinary journalists. And in this case, we have no illusions about possible schemes and combinations in relation to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine - who he has annoyed, what is required of him, etc. The figure is too tall for us to understand. The only thing we are sure of is that the accusations made by the anonymous author have substance. And let the authorized competent authorities deal with the legal justification. So, from an anonymous letter:
Criminal tandem - Prosecutor General Medvedko and banker Borulko
In your material “The criminal octopus in Ukraine - Prosecutor General Medvedko and his tentacles in the SBU, State Tax Administration and the banking sector,” published on the GPU website on November 12, 2008, reveals a bunch of “bright” relationships between the current Prosecutor General of Ukraine Alexander Ivanovich Medvedko and banker Pavel Viktorovich Borulko. I would like to note that there were earlier publications about these relationships and corrupt acts of Prosecutor General Medvedko based on our materials in the media (Internet publications), but they were subsequently withdrawn both at the request of people associated with the Prosecutor General and at the request of representatives of the banker Borulko. It is also possible that they were filmed on a “commercial basis.” I would like to say that in most cases of our appeals to the print media to cover the corrupt relationship between Borulko and Medvedko, we were refused by owners and journalists due to the “scandalousness” of our information and the impossibility of confirming it with factual documents. In addition, previously the provision of documents (bank and other documents, audio files, data from mobile operators) was difficult due to objective reasons (the ongoing investigation into the case of “Colonel Erokhin” and other criminal cases where information leakage was not possible due to possible negative consequences for operational workers, as well as the final results of criminal investigations). The publication of these documents is currently possible.
We will demonstrate information about the Medvedko-Borulko connection from a “memorable” moment in his career for the Prosecutor General of Ukraine - “the time of his resignation” in February 2008.
Let us recall that on February 13, 2008, the parliamentary Committee on Legislative Support for Law Enforcement Activities rejected the draft resolution on expressing no confidence in Prosecutor General Alexander Medvedko and thereby refused to submit the issue of his resignation to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration. As was exaggerated in the press at the time, Medvedko’s sudden “illness” prevented him from quickly resigning. The prosecutor went on sick leave and even had an “operation.” According to “data” leaked to the press, several small benign subcutaneous tumors, popularly called “fat tumors,” were removed from him.
Thus, taking sick leave on time helped Alexander Medvedko stay in his seat - in his absence, this issue was not resolved, and the deputies switched to other scandals, and in a few weeks they completely cooled down.
Whether the “lofty” agreements have “cooled down” or done their job - there is no point in speculating. But the fact of Medvedko’s “illness” is a fact of outright lies for the “general public.”
We will present the facts to you not for the “general public.”
Let's start with the fact that at that time, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Alexander Medvedko was using a mobile communications package belonging to the Megatex company, registered in the city of Konstantinovka, Donetsk region, and had at his disposal the following number: +38 050 473 91 56. As data from the mobile operator and other special means show, calls from this mobile number were made mainly from Kyiv, or more precisely from the house on Geroev Stalingrada Street, 10 A (Kyiv, Geroev Stalingrada Street, 10 A - the place of permanent residence of Alexander Ivanovich Medvedko in Kyiv ).
He mainly used the package with the indicated number in the period from February 6 to February 8, 2008. What does this indicate? That’s right, about the fact that the Prosecutor General of Ukraine did not go to work at that time, but sat at home. And the whole country knows why: as soon as the threat of resignation hung over Medvedko, he immediately “fell ill”, allegedly ending up in a clinic. But as Medvedko’s telephone contacts show, all this time he was not treated at the clinic for a sudden illness, but was recovering at home, “resolving issues” over the phone.
Next number: +38 050 403 57 00, owned by banker Pavel Borulko. This mobile communications package is registered with the Evropeisky Bank, registered in Kharkov. Calls from this phone were mainly made in Kyiv, from the area of the Golden Gate cottage town, where the owner of the Evropeisky, Vladimirsky and National Standard banks lives.
We will tell you further what may connect the banker and the Prosecutor General.
In the meantime, one more important number: +38 050 348 11 00. It belonged to Nikolai Grigorievich Kupyansky. Until recently, General Kupyansky served as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs under Minister Tsushko. And with Lutsenko’s return to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Kupyansky was “thrown by agreement” into the position of head of the Donetsk police headquarters.
On February 6-8, 2008, Nikolai Grigorievich made calls from the number +38 050 348 11 00 from the city of Makeevka, and even more precisely - from Terikonna Street. But this mobile communications package was not purchased by Kupyansky, but by the Makeevka company PFK Titan.
Now let's turn our attention to our documents from mobile operators. They list calls and SMS messages made between phone numbers of interest to us.
In the meantime, let us remember that on July 26, 2006, Roman Erokhin, a colonel of the Donetsk Organized Crime Control Department, was kidnapped and killed in Kiev, who a few months earlier was called by Minister Lutsenko to Kiev, where he carried out certain leadership tasks in a special position.
According to the official version of Lutsenko himself, Erokhin allegedly waged an irreconcilable fight against organized crime, however, without any tangible effect.
So, here are printouts of telephone calls for the period from May 2006 to March 2007.
Nikolai Grigorievich Kupyansky
In addition to the above numbers, two more numbers appear on the printout +38 095 404 49 77 and + 38 067 239 22 32 , which were used by Alexander Medvedko.
Of particular interest is the printout of the chronology of calls shortly before and immediately after the murder of Erokhin.
And here's why: everyone whose calls we are considering had one way or another to do with this case. Thus, from the first days of the investigation, the banker Borulko came under suspicion and was interrogated because, together with the banker Prutnik, he was directly involved in issuing a $3 million loan to Erokhin for the purchase of land near Kiev. But it was precisely about this transaction that Erokhin met with his killers, who introduced themselves as buyers.
General Kupyansky was directly involved in the investigation of this case; moreover, he was personally acquainted with both Erokhin and Borulko back in their “Donetsk” period. Well, Medvedko heads the department that is investigating the murder of Colonel Erokhin.
And here's what's interesting. If in May - July 2006 Borulko called Medvedko almost every day, or even several times a day, then shortly before Erokhin’s disappearance and after, deathly silence suddenly reigned.
From July 21 to July 30, 2006 - not a single call. Let us remind you that Erokhin was killed on July 26. Meanwhile, the number of calls from the banker to the Prosecutor General indicates their very close relationship.
The fact that Borulko was involved in the three-million dollar loan that Erokhin received before his death is known for certain not only to the investigation, but also to the press. If so, it would be quite logical for Borulko to ask Medvedko about the progress of the investigation into this criminal case. But it was during this period that Borulko did not call. Did he lie low or was he simply afraid to expose his connection with the Prosecutor General, foreseeing that the investigation might become interested in the social circle of the business partner of the murdered man?
Borulko also did not call Kupyansky on these days, although on other days he called repeatedly. Was the banker really not worried about the fate of Erokhin and the $3 million loan issued to him? Why not call Comrade General and ask in a friendly way. After all, they have so much in common...
We are not hinting at anything. Let the investigation put forward the versions. True, it should have done this much earlier than us. And the investigation made its version, but...
But we dare to assume that the prosecutor’s investigation will never ask unnecessary questions to Pavel Borulko while the prosecutor’s office is headed by Alexander Medvedko...
We're drawing the line for now. So, almost a year ago, Prosecutor General Medvedko, instead of appearing before parliament to resign, said he was ill, but in reality he was lying down at home, resolving issues by phone, paid for by a commercial structure from his small homeland.
(I wonder what could force Alexander Ivanovich to commit such a petty act of corruption as using mobile communication services at the expense of a commercial structure (we address the same question to Nikolai Grigoryevich Kupyansky)? Why does Alexander Medvedko need this small thing? After all, his salary is more than a dozen thousand hryvnia. I wish I could take a closer look. And this work is quite within the power of, for example, Lutsenko’s eagles, whose leader once so zealously assured that Medvedko should be removed. And Yuri Vitalievich has nothing to do - organize an inspection, compile a start at least a protocol on corruption, so that prosecutors general are discouraged from using mobile communications at the expense of commercial structures).
On the same phone, Medvedko calls a banker involved in the case of the murder of a police colonel, allegedly being investigated by the prosecutor's office. And this banker, thanks to his father, and not only him, has a long-standing close relationship with the Prosecutor General...
...In the meantime, let’s try to remember the story when thousands of investors of the Kievvysotbud company found themselves without money and housing as a result of a clever scam organized by a great friend of the Prosecutor General Pavel Borulko. Among the victims are not only investors of a serious construction company, but also shareholders of the large Kiev bank, which also invested its funds in this project. The list can be continued with a list of several more banks, a shipping company and much more. But for Pavel Borulko, everything is like water off a duck’s back. And God bless him - the Ukrainian land is rich in swindlers and swindlers who have attached themselves to power, because this is the main type of their business. Where is the prosecutor's office looking - that is the main question!
But you and I know where she is looking. Prosecutor General Medvedko looks at the screen of his mobile phone, on which the number of banker Borulko is displayed. And General Kupyansky will help them.
Pavel Borulko - owner of the banks "European", "Vladimirsky" and "National Stand"
Security Service of MMK named after. IlyichOPRICHNIK EDICHKA
Our hero, Eduard Arkadyevich Komissarov (aka oprichnik Eddie), has a very responsible and serious position: director of the security service of PJSC MMK im. Ilyich" in the city of Mariupol. And this character attracted our attention with his tireless activities to protect the property and material assets of the plant, which is part of Metinvest Holding LLC, known throughout the country and beyond. And although Komissarov E.A. worked in the above-mentioned position for a short period of time (since the beginning of 2013), his former subordinates note the security director’s extraordinary ability to use his official position for the purpose of profit. Without hesitation, E.A. Komissarov introduced the practice of collecting bonus money (hence the nickname - oprichnik Eddie), received by security service employees as a reward for conscientious work. And guardsman Eddie justifies this “good action” of his (in the circle of those close to his person and over a “glass of tea”) by the exorbitant expenses that he, they say, incurs, pleasing his omnipresent Master in everything. He complains about how much his (the Lord’s) maintenance costs him, and his appointment to the position cost a pretty penny. The reader will probably think that there is no Lord, and that this is all a distraction! But no! ... Go into Komissarov’s office and you can see for yourself on the wall a portrait of this very Vladyka in a general’s uniform - Nikolai Grigorievich Kupyansky. Yes, the Vladyka has a solid position: head of the security service of the SCM group. How else to understand such attention, he himself, the Vladyka, came to the plant to introduce the new director to the security service team. And he is happy to try: either he will bring a rare fish to the master’s table, or he will make the Lord happy with something else, and he himself has grown in the eyes of his subordinates! He doesn’t forget to drop it once again, they say, you are here, slaves, and I go to the Lord himself into the chambers, and there it’s just a stone’s throw to Himself... yes, reader, you understood correctly! The guardsman is trying, and various rumors have appeared: the Lord of the guardsman is trying to get a promotion, the position of director of security at Metinvest is oh, how tempting! How can you not try!?
By the way, guardsman Eddie registered Vladyka’s daughter and son-in-law as packers for workshop 3000 for a vacation in an elite sanatorium this summer, well, of course, we need to reduce the cost of expenses! Otherwise, there won’t be enough funds on the card to pay for entertainment events!
So Vladyka bought an expensive computer, and he didn’t forget about himself. He delighted his wife with a fashionable smartphone, and so, little by little, he bought household items, probably for the future dacha that the security director is building in the village of Chervone. And what can I say, they are afraid of the oprichnik in the plant’s accounting department if such expenses are recorded according to documents as travel expenses for the security director. So what, the reader will ask: Is the Bishop in poverty, or is his salary being delayed at SCM? Or as in that joke: “... the “ball” has no size!” Has the general really made a mistake in his oprichnik, who behaves like this! Maybe this is an isolated case!? No, not the only one. Another funny character is Deputy. Director of the security holding company that carries out physical protection of the assets of the SCM group - Dmitry Nikolenko. People around him say about this: without a king in the head! He behaves very unceremoniously, visiting assets with inspections, saying that as I tell Kupyansky, so it will be. Whoever I say will be appointed. And after taking a sip of okovita (vodka), he says that he has great confidence in the Vladyka, if he entrusts him with cashing money, maintaining the “back office,” etc.
“Are you saying that all governors are thieves? But thieves are dearer to me than bloodsuckers.”
I. Brodsky.
“Shirka” is unnatural as a hybrid of a dog and a wolf. It is unnatural for one simple reason - you cannot team up with murderers, you cannot step over blood. It is forbidden. And not only for moral reasons, but also out of a sense of simple self-preservation. A killer is, first of all, a person incapable of solving complex issues of human relationships in complex ways. He prefers murder to complex but peaceful methods. And, having committed it once, he becomes a slave to the stereotype, a person with a developed cliché. Whenever he needs to solve another difficult issue, one of the options for this solution will be murder.
Unfortunately, in our society it is not yet customary not to elect people who have ever violated the law to power. We will have to move for a very long time to a situation where a minor offense in youth (such as smoking weed) will become an obstacle to election to leadership positions. Alas, so far almost all of our parliamentarians have ever broken the law. As, indeed, are the vast majority of the country’s urban population. Almost all of us do not pay taxes as we should. And this is quite understandable - what is the point of improving the financial situation of tax workers with your own money? Most of our deputies have at one time or another committed more serious crimes. However, these crimes affected the financial side of life, but were not crimes against the individual. However, there is one party in parliament that is unique in this sense, called the “Party of Regions”. It is unique not only in that its nominal leader had proven convictions for robbery and theft, while the real leader was involved in more serious crimes. Although, of course, it would be strange to imagine, for example in the USA, a gangster elected to Congress. But, in the end, a leader, albeit with a very murky past, is a special story. Surprisingly, in this party, which seems to be trying with all its might to present itself as a civilized business group, ordinary killers were on the passing part of its list. Yes, many Ukrainian business groups use the services of killers, but this is not a reason to bring these people into parliament.
It is interesting that even Russia became interested in this Ukrainian phenomenon. Back on November 16, 2006, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU General Staff) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation sent a report to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which, in particular, a certain Ivanyushchenkov Yuri Vladimirovich, aka “Yura Enakievsky”, aka number 111 in electoral list of the Party of Regions.
Here is this document:
Killers and hucksters - 2
The story of victorious crime
Organized crime in the Donetsk region arose much earlier than not only law enforcement officers, but even journalists started talking about it in Moscow. In 1986, in Donetsk, members of a group led by current police officer Konovalov were detained for committing murders and robberies. Konovalov’s connections were very interesting. In particular, a large and branched organized crime group was identified, headed by a certain Akhat Bragin. The group already specialized in “extortion” against nascent cooperators and “guild workers.” Bragin’s closest associates were “Ryaboy” (Ryabin), “Bely” (Morozov) and “Samson” (Bogdanov). Already in the late eighties, the group “held” not only Donetsk, but also many cities in the region. By the beginning of the nineties, the group had significantly branched out its structure and was significantly replenished by former athletes who made a living as guards for “scammers,” “thimblemakers,” and card sharpers. At the same time, simultaneously with the racketeering movement, the “black suit” was also actively working in the region. The thieves' direction was led by such citizens as “Pig” (Fishchuk), “Ordeli” (Dolidze), “Bek” (Dzhamalov), “Syava” (Galushkin), “Krymsky” (Dutko), “Sedoy” (Minailuk) and others. Thieves also sought to control commercial structures, demanding their 25 and sometimes more percent. It should be noted that even then the division of Donetsk criminals into several ethnic groups began - Tatar, Jewish, Caucasian and Slavic. For the time being, this division was very conditional, but later it will result in a kind of caste division of Donetsk crime.
In 1991, the newly created Organized Crime Control Department (not yet bearing that name) identified and registered the most active organized crime groups in the region. There were surprisingly many of them. In Donetsk alone there were nine of them, in Mariupol - three, in Makeevka, Shakhtersk, Gorlovka, Kramatorsk and Konstantinovka two each, in Artemovsk, Enakievo, Slavyansk, Selidovo, Dobropolye, Yasinovataya, Khartsyzsk and Torez one each. It was obvious that such a number of organized crime groups in the region would very soon become unbearably crowded and a big war would begin. The group of Akhat Bragin will win it. But he won’t have time to rejoice at it.
Bragin was a very smart person and knew how to combine in his group the seemingly incompatible manners of a “dvizhnyak” and thieves’ “concepts”. Until mid-1992, Bragin and Ryabin had good contacts with the criminal authorities of that time - “thieves in law” “Kultyapym” (Frolov), “Krasyuk” (Mazurkevich), “Poltava” (Dribny), “Tselka” (Avtsin), “Chirik” (Braginsky) and others. But these relations worsened by 1992, by the beginning of the great Donetsk lawlessness.
The “Lux” group was not started by the Tatar Akhat Bragin, but by the Jew Yakov Kranz. He was the founder of the joint-stock company “Lux”, which at first was engaged in the banal “buy and sell” business, like everyone else, but then began to rapidly expand the scope of its activities and increase its turnover. At one time, Krantz and Bragin peacefully collaborated as an entrepreneur and his “roof.” But in November 1992, Kranz was killed, and Bragin took the place of director of Lux. It was Bragin who began to consolidate the criminal structures of the region around “Lux”. His nascent empire included such authorities as Martirosyan, Antipenko, Morozov, Khancha, Shcherbina, Danilov, Troyanov, Penkovtsev, Vasiliev, Shportyuk, Solomko, Kolmykov.
At the same time, a “Jewish-Caucasian” clan began to form, which had the support of “peak” thieves in law. At the end of 1992, beginning of 1993, a big war began in Donetsk. According to eyewitnesses, shots and explosions were heard on the streets of Donetsk almost every day, murders in the criminal chronicles of the newspaper were as regular as reports from the Sovinformburo.
Among the major leaders of organized crime groups, Dzhamalov, Akopyan, Frolov, Bimbat, Braginsky, Dvorny, Minailuk, and Dudko were killed in 1993-94. Failed attempts to murder Bragin and Bogdanov occur. Many large businessmen of the region are being destroyed, such as the chairman of the Pegasus private enterprise Bukhman, the director of the Timur private enterprise Tolebaev, the vice-president of Mozdok-LTD JSC Gledov, the director of the Universal-Impex joint venture Lashin, the director of the Edelweiss private enterprise Buzarov, the president JSC “Danko” Momot, Verkhovna Rada deputy Evgeniy Shcherban, general director of the joint venture “Metallurg” Abramzon, chairman of the Miners’ City Executive Committee Sheludko and others.
After the murder of Frolov and Braginsky, their closest “collaborators”—frolov’s thieves’ godfather—Mazurkevich, Charfas, Ryabin, Kushnir, Stelmashenko, Cherevatenko, Galstyan, Mizevich and others left Ukraine.
Bragin’s “Lux” group won the gang war. And although shots will be constantly heard in the Donetsk region even before 1998, and Bragin himself, and the Bogdanov brothers, and Ryabin and Kushnir will be killed, it is “Lux” that will become the economic-power-criminal conglomerate that will turn the Donetsk region into a criminal autonomy Ukraine. Bragin’s authority was especially strengthened after his not entirely voluntary trip to Kiev, to Vladimirskaya, 33. And to be more precise, to the SBU detention center on Askoldov Lane. On August 4, 1995, a combined group of employees of the SBU and the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrived in Donetsk from Kyiv, accompanied by Alpha. They searched Bragin’s residence and took him with them to Kyiv, to the SBU detention center.
Bragin did not stay there very long; for three days, however, he returned surprisingly satisfied. A rumor spread among Bragin’s inner circle that Akhat had secured serious support from the SBU. Whether it was true or not, we cannot say, but soon after this trip Bragin got a new head of the security service, the former head of counterintelligence of the SBU Directorate in the Donetsk region, Viktor Dvoinykh. It should be recalled that in 1995 the practice was not yet widespread when former high-ranking SBU officers went after retirement to serve bandits. And Victor Dvoinykh rather performed the functions of a “corrector” of inevitable evil under Bragin, that is, he kept him from outright massacre. It is no secret that such kind of “odeers” (officers of the active reserve) (legendary or non-legendary) were at that time in almost all major organized crime groups, and this largely saved Ukraine from real “criminal wars”. Dvoinykh shared the fate of his ward. On October 15, 1995, he was torn to shreds along with Akhat Bragin at the Shakhtar stadium. It is possible that Bragin’s murder was caused not only by the struggle for leadership in his organized crime group, but also by revenge for the fact that Bragin began to cooperate with the “authorities.”
However, before this sad moment, Bragin had to win many more “local wars”. In particular, he needed to subjugate the Yenakievo “brothers”. The homeland of the current Prime Minister Yanukovych is a rather unique place even for Ukraine. We quote “Ukrainian Pravda”: “STRIPPTISE IN YENAKIEV CITY Yenakievo is an industrial town in the Donetsk region of two hundred thousand souls. Finding yourself there is like climbing into a cold open-hearth furnace and trying to breathe. Day and night, a red smoke genie hangs over the city - the Yenakievo Metallurgical Plant honestly supplies citizens with emissions.
Coke is not far behind, decorating the genie with a white beard of exhaust. Baba Nastya, the first person I turn to at work, says: when the breeze blows from the EEMZe, grab your laundry if it’s on the street. If you've been gaping, get a fresh henna color on your washed sheets.
And then there are apples, pears and other fruits,” the grandmother mumbles, handing me poisonous apples on the path. - The factory is blowing dust. Come on: you collect them, wipe them and eat them. My grandchildren come, I give it to them too and - nothing!
Next it is sung about the orphan of Enakievo. It turns out that Yankovic’s childhood was neither warm nor well-fed. This is confirmed by the six acres of garden, the miserable house where he grew up, and the summer kitchen where his father and stepmother moved him and his grandmother.
Yenakiev City was not a city of miners, but a kind of Donbass Chicago. Go up to every second person and ask: were you sitting? And he will proudly answer: but of course! It was even believed that if you weren’t sitting, you weren’t a man at all. Maybe this is an exaggeration, but it’s a fact: in the Krasny Gorodok district alone there were three dorms for one and a half thousand “chemists”.
And today even tram stops reflect criminal specifics. Let's say the Katran stop. Translated from Feni, katran is not a Black Sea shark at all, but a gambling house. Yenakievsky Katran is a village where thieves and bandits played cards, drank and walked.
The city was divided into districts: Center, Pivnovka, Golubovka, Krasny Gorodok, Sobachevka. Sometimes it was wall to wall. When, say, the Pivnovsky gang walked down the street for a showdown, the fences were cracking from too many people, people were running away and dogs were howling.
“You see, there are two benches,” the source points his tattooed hand at the building opposite. - We met in the center to solve problems. Someone was punched in the face, someone was robbed, so they dealt with each other. And as an argument they brought forward the Kagal, several dozen people.
The men who investigated were adults - 30-35 years old, all with criminal records. And to alarm the enemy, they sent out boys. The Pivnovskis, a gang from the Pivnovka area, were leading Yankovic out.
Only a day has passed, and I’m fed up with Enakiev. The air sweetened with benzene, intimidated, poorly dressed people, boorish service will strain anyone’s nerves. One good thing is that taxis on the streets get under your feet. For five hetmans you can travel around the entire town from edge to edge and take pictures.
So I’m riding around a city steeped in the past. Lenin Square with the monument, the avenue of the same name, 50 Years of October Avenue, the streets of 60 Years of the USSR, 22nd Congress of the CPSU - only the yellow-blue banner on the City Council reminds of independence here.
The average salary in the mines around Yenakievo is 500-600 hryvnia. For the hellish work of a miner - pennies. In the city, on average, they give 200-300 hetmans. But prices in stores and on the market are little inferior to those in the capital. Inflation is a consequence of the “care” of our government.”
In this cute town, Viktor Fedorovich lived from his birth in 1950 until 1996, when he was appointed deputy head of the Donetsk regional administration. Before this, as evidenced by the official biography, “He began his career in 1969, worked as a gas worker at the Yenakievo metallurgical plant, as a car mechanic, and as a mechanic at the enterprise. For 20 years he worked in management positions - he was the General Director of production associations - “Donbastransremont”, “Ukruglepromtrans” and the Donetsk Regional Territorial Association of Road Transport.”
From the unofficial biography we know about two criminal convictions, the intercession of cosmonaut Beregovoy and participation in sports competitions in Monaco. Such a “cocktail” is somehow unimaginable without the participation of the “deep drilling office.” However, this is not what we are talking about now. It is possible that the career rise of the Enakievo, roughly speaking, director of the motor depot in 1996 was associated not only with the production achievements of Viktor Fedorovich, but also with the right choice in an unknown criminal war.
The fact is that during his lifetime, Akhat Bragin was never able to subjugate the “Yenakievo lads”. The final solution to the Yenakievo issue was taken over by his successor, Rinat Akhmetov.
The Yenakievo organized crime group consisted of a business link, which was represented by the Georgian Dolidze brothers, and a combat link, headed by Yuri Ivanyushchenko (aka “Yurets Maloy”, “Yura Enakievsky”, number 111 on the list of the “Party of Regions”. In the fighting link, in addition to Ivanyushchenko from famous personalities included the godfather of Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovych, a certain “Zuy” (Zuyev A.P.), regular killers Salavatov Rafail Takhirovich “Salavat”, Vlad Penkovtsev, a certain Goncharov nicknamed “Chizh”. The business link also included aspiring currency traders, Messrs. Yurushev and Frolov. Leonid Yurushev is now known as the chairman of the board of Forum Bank.
From the GRU certificate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces
Killers and hucksters - 3
It is perhaps worth dwelling in more detail on the personality of Rafail Takhirovich Salavatov, nicknamed “Salavat”. “Salavat” was recognized as a particularly dangerous recidivist back in the early 90s, who spent almost his entire life until perestroika in prisons. However, if before perestroika he mainly lived in robbery, after it he began to specialize in extortion, banditry and contract killings. And what’s surprising is that they never imprisoned him again. And not because “Salavat” was elusive, but rather because the Donetsk police, with the strengthening of the local mafia, turned into just one of its units.
Until 1994, “Salavat” was part of the group of the Dolidze brothers, which operated in Yenakievo, Shakhtersk, Kirovsk, Debaltsevo, as well as in the Lugansk region. Lugansk criminal leaders “Belorus” (Sakhranny Leonid Stepanovich) and “Footballist” (Polubatko Vladimir Alekseevich) were already operating under the “Donetsk roof”. It is interesting, by the way, that “Footballist” still actually controls the Lugansk region, although he permanently lives in Denmark. There, you know, there is very loyal legislation.
But once a month he comes to Lugansk to “remove cash” and “resolve” accumulated issues.
“Salavat” was also involved in organizing large-scale thefts from Yenakievo factories. In 1994, when the war began between the groups of Alik Grek and the Dolidze brothers, after the murder of a number of Dolidze’s people, in particular Abramitsky, Kravchuk and Ivchenko, Ivanyushchenko (“Yurets Maloy”) leaves Dolidze’s group and takes Zuev (“Zuy”) with him. - godfather of Viktor Yanukovych and “Salavat”.
When the Dolidze brothers realized that the Greek, and after his death Akhmetov, were waging a war for their complete destruction, they tried to resist. In particular, “Salavat” was kidnapped. However, after some time he managed to escape. And on February 2, 1998, near the building of the Donetsk prosecutor’s office, “Salavat” kills Grigory Dolidze. From this moment on, Rinat Akhmetov becomes the only real leader in the Donetsk region. Of the most famous “associates” of the current de facto leader of the Party of Regions, it is worth mentioning Alexander Morozov, at one time, on the orders of Alik Grek, it was he who shot Janos Kranz, and in Akhmetov’s group he headed the security service. Next to Akhmetov was Givi Nemsadze, who controlled the Proletarsky district of Donetsk. Already in our time, when Akhmetov tried in every possible way to legalize himself, the uncontrollable Nemsadze became inconvenient for Rinat Leonidovich and he was simply handed over to Russian law enforcement agencies. Together with Akhmetov there were such famous people as “Mishanya Kosoy” (Mikhail Lyashko), future people’s deputies of Ukraine from the Party of Regions Chertkov Yuri Dmitrievich (“Devil”), Kiy Sergey Viktorovich (“Ky”), Arkalaev Nurulislam Gadzhievich (“Nurik” ), the above-mentioned Yuriy Ivanyushchenko (“Yurets Maloy”), and, of course, the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Donetsk region, Vladimir Malyshev, as the “supervisor” of the police.
The devil knows why Akhmetov needed to bring his “torpedoes” from his gangster past to parliament. Perhaps this is a form of gratitude, perhaps in order to strengthen the parliamentary faction with brute physical force. Something else is scary. Not only “bandit deputies” came to power, but also their “pocket cops”. Now three Deputy Ministers of Internal Affairs of Ukraine are actually “cops” raised by Akhmetov and his group. It was during the gangster chaos and bloody wars in Donetsk and the region that the current head of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, General Igor Belozub, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs - Head of the Criminal Police, General Nikolai Kupyansky, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs for Personnel Work and internal security Nikolai Plekhanov. Practically, all key positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are occupied by Akhmetov’s “pupils”. Plekhanov once went to “introduce” the aforementioned “Salavat” to the new Sumy governor Shcherban. Kupyansky and Belozub worked successfully during the bloodiest years of Donetsk in the field of “fighting organized crime.” In theory, this “struggle” should have ended either with the destruction of the only real Donetsk organized crime group - the organized crime group of Akhmetov, or with the heroic death of the above-mentioned policemen at a combat post. However, neither one nor the other happened. Akhmetov’s organized crime group successfully replaced state power in the Donetsk region, and the brave “fighters against organized crime” joined its ranks. And if Akhmetov and his “brothers,” fortunately, do not lead Ukraine, then the Ministry of Internal Affairs is still in command of his “pocket cops.” And don’t delude yourself about the remaining deputies of the absent Minister of Internal Affairs. Just cooperation with this “Akhmetov trinity” makes them the same members of the gang. And puts an end to any reputations. People who for many years not only covered up bandits, but also “fed” from them, cannot lead the police. People who have stained themselves by collaborating with such “militia” cannot lead the police. And in order for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to truly become a law enforcement agency, and not a “bandit security” agency, a complete replacement of its top leadership is necessary. These “leaders” have taken on too many criminal connections and obligations to crime. They have sold themselves too much to crime to be free to make decisions. The most alarming thing about the current situation is that the “cleansing” may not happen. We quote the website “Tema”: “Nikolai Grigoryevich Kupyansky has been in charge of the criminal unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs since December 2006. His relationship with the current minister Vasily Tsushko did not work out. Socialist and ex-collective farmer Tsushko, sensing that the financial flows of the Ministry of Internal Affairs flowing through the channels of the criminal police were bypassing the minister’s office, began to limit Kupyansky’s rights and succeeded. Thus, he first removed the “seventh department” from his subordination, and then the service for combating economic crime. Kupyansky reciprocated with Tsushko and began to provide Lutsenko with information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, thanks to which Yuri Vitalievich remains aware of what is happening in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, information does not flow in a straight line, but along the Kupyansky-Evdokimov-Lutsenko chain. Evdokimov received clear instructions: all communications with the Ministry of Internal Affairs should be carried out through Kupyansky. If Minister Evdokimov ascends to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Kupyansky will not be left behind, but he will have to experience a “rebirth.” Due to his pronounced “regional” origin, he may be “exiled” for a short period of time to serve in one of the regions - on the general wave of the inevitable “cleansing” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Donbass exiles - and then returned back to Kyiv on Bogomolets Street.”
Let's hope that what was quoted is just a rumor that will not be confirmed. Moreover, according to our information, General Evdokimov cannot stand Akhmetov’s henchmen and could hardly conduct any negotiations with them. However, if suddenly this turns out to be true and after the appointment of a new Minister of Internal Affairs, one of his “Akhmetov’s trinity” remains among his deputies, then the Ministry of Internal Affairs will remain a deeply rotten “bandit security” structure.
Application:
Defender of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine - Chief of the Criminal Police, Major General of the Police
KUP'YANSKY MIKOLA GRIGOROVYCH
Born on November 13, 1965 in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region.
Graduated from the Kharkiv Law Institute (1991).
In 1985, he began serving in the internal affairs bodies as a police officer of a united division of the Kostyantynivskyi Municipality police department and the internal affairs department of the Donetsk region.
From 1990 to 1998, he worked as an operational officer in the fight against the theft of socialist power, Kostiantynivsky Miskved, the head of the department for the fight against organized crime in Russia. Kostyantynivka Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Donetsk region.
From 1998 to 2005, he was the intercessor, the first intercessor of the head of the Department of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Donetsk region.
In 2005-2006 he was the head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Mykolayiv region.
From spring to 2006 - the first defender of the head of the Main Directorate for the fight against organized malice of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
On April 13, 2006, he was appointed intercessor of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine - head of the criminal police. The first intercessor of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is the head of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, Major General of Police
BILOZUB IGOR DMITROVICH
Born on the 18th of July 1955 in Donetsk.
Graduated from the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute (1985) and the Ukrainian Law Academy (1995).
Labor activity began as an underground electrician at a mine (1974). After serving in the army, he worked as a driver, a senior safety engineer in a motor transport industry.
Serving in the internal affairs bodies began in 1982 in the police station of a special detention center for the detention of administratively arrested persons.
From 1983 to 1991, he served as an operative, senior operative, and head of the department for combating the theft of socialist power of the Budonivsky district department of internal affairs of the Donetsk police department of the Donetsk city police department. region.
Having captured the prison of the intercessor of the head of the department for the fight against theft of socialist power (later - to protect the economy from malicious encroachments) UVS m. Donetsk.
From 1993 to 2000, the Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Donetsk region worked in kerivnyh plantings in podrozdils to combat organized malice.
From 2000 to 2005, Rik was the first intercessor of the head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Donetsk region - the head of the department for combating organized crime.
In 2006, Zhovna was appointed the first intercessor of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine - the head of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime.
Stanislav RECHINSKY
Komsomolskaya Pravda found out how the investigation into the murder of a notorious Russian businessman is progressing
The execution of Maxim Kurochkin can be called one of the most notorious murders in the entire history of independent Ukraine. An experienced killer shot and killed an entrepreneur on March 27 of this year in front of dozens of law enforcement officers right in the courtyard of the Svyatoshinsky district of the capital. On the same day, the prosecutor's office opened a criminal case. But it was clear: the operation to eliminate the foreigner was organized so professionally that one could not count on a miracle. Most likely, this crime will never be solved. However, as it turned out, this is far from the case.
The investigation did not stop for a minute
Nikolai Grigorievich, I confess to you, I considered the case of the murder of Maxim Kurochkin “dead”...
And I’m not saying that it has already been fully revealed. But we have done a tremendous amount of work and achieved a certain result. After the initiation of a criminal case, an investigative and operational group was created, which included criminal prosecutors and investigators from the Prosecutor General’s Office, as well as employees of the Criminal Investigation Department and the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. At the initial stage, about 100 law enforcement officers were involved in the work daily.
At a press conference held at the Ministry of Internal Affairs shortly after the murder of Maxim Kurochkin, you stated that this assassination attempt may be closely connected with two other high-profile crimes, in particular with the murder of the business partner of a Russian entrepreneur, director of the Dnepropetrovsk Ozerka market, Vladimir Vorobyov, who was shot in December last year, as well as with the tragedy that occurred on March 16 of this year near the village of Plyuty (Konchi-Zaspa district near Kiev. Let us recall that then unknown persons literally riddled a Toyota Land Cruiser jeep, in which there were natives of Dnepropetrovsk - citizens of Russia, close Maxim Kurochkin's friends: Kharchishin, Kurenko and Topilin - Author's note). Has this version been confirmed?
While working on it, we scrupulously analyzed all the information that came to us. At the initial stage, residents of entire villages and microdistricts were interviewed. Work was carried out even during the Easter holidays. As a result, we were able to obtain a lead that significantly helped in the investigation of all three crimes.
Due to the fact that all those killed were citizens of the Russian Federation, the investigation was conducted in close cooperation with Russian law enforcement agencies. I do not have the right to detail the accumulated information, as this may interfere with the investigation, but I can say that we have practically managed to trace the history of the Sako rifle, from which Kurochkin was killed, from the moment of its manufacture to its discovery at the crime scene.
It's not just about the market
There has already been information in the media that the participants in these crimes have been detained. Have you managed to “catch the big fish”?
Six suspects are currently under arrest. And one of them is a killer. In addition, the Prosecutor General's Office put several more direct participants in the crimes on the wanted list.
Which of the three murders was carried out by the detained killer?
I can't answer this question yet.
At the first stage of the investigation, you said that there are several versions about the motives of the criminals who committed all these murders. But today you can probably already accurately answer the question: who and why needed to kill Maxim Kurochkin and his friends?
We are currently working on only one version. As expected, all three crimes are related to the Dnipropetrovsk Ozerka market.
Is the price of one market too high?
And we are not talking about one market. All crimes are related to the redistribution of spheres of influence over property, which was under the influence of a criminal community, of which Maxim Kurochkin was an active member. One of these objects was the Ozerka market.
Max had debts
Is it possible to at least name the objects that became the subject of dispute between the businessman and his former partners? The media have repeatedly reported that Maxim Kurochkin owned hotels, regional power companies and other property...
Kurochkin, as he himself repeatedly said, had no property on the territory of our country. Moreover, there are no documents indicating that he is the founder of this or that company. But this does not mean that the businessman did not influence certain companies.
How? Are we really talking about racketeering?
Everything was done much more subtly. According to our operational data, in one of the European countries (banking secrets are carefully protected in this state), Maxim Kurochkin was the founder of a commercial structure. This company actually managed the properties that were located in Ukraine.
It turns out that someone was trying to take this company and the property it managed from him?
Remember, the businessman himself stated that someone owes him a large sum of money - from 75 to 180 million US dollars. Of course, there are no IOUs on this matter.
Why then did the ill-fated Ozerka market become the epicenter of events?
Probably, someone deliberately disrupted the deal to sell the Dnepropetrovsk market. Once the buyer and seller reached an agreement, some third party intervened. So, on the eve of the deal, Vladimir Vorobyov was killed. Then, a few days before the final resolution of the issue, Kharchyshin, Kurenko and Topilin were shot.
The bullet pierced the body armor
One gets the impression that someone was deliberately luring Maxim Kurochkin out of Moscow in order to deal with him on the territory of our country...
Personally, I don't think so. I have no facts that would confirm this version.
What can you tell us about the direct perpetrators of the murder?
These young people, aged 23 to 35, were specifically involved in sports and shooting. They had experienced consultants who trained criminals in the methods of operational search activities, car surveillance and other little-known schemes of the work of operational agencies. You may be surprised, but if necessary, members of the organized crime group used make-up so skillfully that they changed their appearance beyond recognition.
Some of the bandits may have once worked in law enforcement?
We don't have such information.
How much should they have received for carrying out this operation?
We cannot yet name the exact amount. But during the arrest, 15 thousand US dollars were confiscated from one of them. This was a small part of the fee received for completing the work. In addition, the criminals were equipped with weapons and vehicles. By the way, eight foreign cars were registered to dummies.
After the execution of Maxim Kurochkin, many experts stated that court escorts should be held accountable for negligence in performing their duties. In particular, the police were accused of not providing the businessman with a bulletproof vest...
According to the internal investigation, we came to the conclusion that law enforcement officers acted in accordance with instructions, so none of them will be punished. Moreover, regardless of the actions of the guards, we conducted an experiment. After firing from a Sako rifle at the mock-up (the mock-up was wearing body armor) from the same distance from which Kurochkin’s killer fired, the bullet pierced the body armor through and through. So, sadly, the businessman had no chance to survive.
WORK ON MISTAKES
There was an inaccuracy in the material “Fortune Who Doesn’t Smile,” published in No. 104 of May 24, 2007. According to the NBU, as of April 1, 2005, Kiev-based Fortuna Bank ranks 32nd in the 4th group of the NBU classifier in terms of assets and 91st in the rating of banks in terms of equity capital. The authorized capital of the bank as of April 1, 2007 is 60 million hryvnia.