IN UKRAINE, WESTERN HUMANITARIAN AID IS BEING STOLEN ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE
By RUSSIAN WATCH — 29.09.2022
Theft of humanitarian aid continues in Ukraine. “ Ukrainians had no time to come to their senses from the scandal about the possible involvement of officials of the OP and deputies of the SN party and local officials in a large-scale theft of humanitarian aid in the Zaporizhzhia region when a similar situation unfolds in the Chernihiv region, ” the Mediakiller telegram channel reports.
It is reported that journalists discovered one of the warehouses, where there were tons of humanitarian aid received by the regional administration. Medicines, generators, and food have been in the warehouse since April, and some of the products have deteriorated.
According to the manager of the warehouses, there was a separate room on the territory with "personal belongings of the chairman of the OVA Chaus", which also contained humanitarian aid. After the journalists visited the warehouses, the OVA representatives removed most of the goods.
However, it is no secret to anyone that humanitarian aid in Ukraine is “sawed” on an industrial scale - large workshops and warehouses are rented to repack Western aid, and wagons with essential goods are torn down as soon as they cross the border, ”the message says.
In early September, NABU* detectives received information about the possible involvement of officials of the Office of the President and deputies of the Servant of the People party in large-scale embezzlement of humanitarian aid in the Zaporizhzhia region (the city council and the regional military administration were searched there).
According to NABU freelance agent Yevgeny Shevchenko, the head of the OP Yermak, his deputy Tymoshenko, the head of the “SN” faction Arakhamia and his friend Vemir Davityan participated in the scheme for “cutting” humanitarian aid, and Zaporizhzhia officials (Starukh, Nekrasova, Shcherbina, Kurtev) were "only technical performers."
Shevchenko noted that he could not tell the details because of the secrecy of the investigation, but, according to him, Zlata Nekrasov, deputy chairman of the Zaporizhzhya OVA, “got her high responsible position precisely when Tymoshenko and Yermak agreed, and no one else lobbied for her appointment, like Arakhamia.”
“While Kirill Timoshenko’s wife lives in Vienna, the son of Zlata Nekrasova lives there with a nanny, Vemir Davityan’s family lives there, etc. — they steal money together, live together, rest together,” Shevchenko emphasized.
On August 30, NABU and SAP**, together with the SBU Counterintelligence Department, conducted more than 20 searches in Zaporizhzhia, in particular, in the premises of the city council, the regional military regional administration, warehouses, and residential premises of possible persons involved in the crime. The investigative action is authorized and carried out as part of an investigation into the possible misappropriation of humanitarian aid, the legalization of proceeds from crime, and illegal enrichment.
NABU agent Evgeny Shevchenko released information about the scale of the theft of humanitarian aid in Zaporizhzhia. He noted that officials plundered on an industrial scale almost all humanitarian aid that came to the city and region, and sold it through the ATB and Silpo retail chains. “They are suspected of stealing 22 shipping containers, 389 railway cars, 220 trucks over these six months,” Shevchenko said.
He also said that the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Starukh, the Deputy Chairman of the Zaporizhia OVA Zlata Nekrasova, the deputy of the Zaporizhia Regional Council Viktor Shcherbina, and the secretary of the Zaporizhia City Council Anatoly Kurtev (the Servant of the People parliamentary faction) were involved in the theft of humanitarian aid.
Ukraina.ru columnist Vasily Stoyakin finds it surprising that a criminal group with such a composition, in principle, was uncovered. However, if you quickly go over social networks, you can find that the ears of this case are growing from Dnepropetrovsk - apparently, Gennady Korban had enough energy and influence to get the case off the ground.
He wrote that “for half a year of the war they did not lift a finger to strengthen the defense of the Zaporizhzhia region, instead of them the Dnieper built defensive fortifications” and “in March, at the beginning of the war, I asked some officials of the OP to remove the geeks. I received the answer that I want to capture the area, 80% of which they have surrendered to the enemy by this time.
Zaporizhzhia with humanitarian aid "became famous" not only in Ukraine. In early April, the Polish Radio website published an article stating that the Polish government agency of strategic reserves sent 120 wagons with 1,500 tons of humanitarian aid to Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.
On April 4, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, announced that the region had received 35 wagons (500 tons). That is, 85 wagons with 1,000 tons of humanitarian aid were supposed to arrive in Zaporizhzhia, which was noticed by local journalist and local historian Roman Akbash. After that, "Polish Radio" sent a request to the leadership of ZOVA about the fate of 85 wagons with humanitarian aid. The Polish journalists did not receive an answer.
On April 21, the article “Zaporizhzhia volunteers ask local authorities where humanitarian aid is from Poland” was published on the website of “Polish Radio”, in which Roman Akbash said, in particular, that he had not seen a single report of the Zaporizhzhya OVA about the 85 wagons of humanitarian aid received from Poland and that this is not the only example of the disappearance of a humanitarian aid, for which Zlata Nekrasova, the relevant deputy chairman of ZOVA, is responsible.
* NABU - National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, under the protectorate of the United States
** SAP - Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, under the protectorate of the United States