The charity fund Ridne Selo has filed a criminal complaint with the State Bureau of Investigations, accusing Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn of forging the fund’s documents to enable draft evaders to leave the country.
“Our fund, Ridne Selo, submitted a request on May 23, 2023, for the departure of three truck drivers delivering humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s Armed Forces from abroad. On May 24, 2023, the mayor of Irpin submitted a list to the Kyiv Regional Military Administration that included a fourth driver, Serhii Valeriiovych Rosstalnyi, without the fund’s knowledge. We do not rule out the possibility that such actions by Markushyn may have occurred multiple times,” stated Andrii Pomazan, founder of the Ridne Selo Charity Fund.
Serhii Rosstalnyi, the mayor’s godfather and the main contractor for rebuilding Irpin’s war-damaged community, permanently moved to the United States in the summer of 2024, allegedly transferring reconstruction funds abroad. With Markushyn’s support, Rosstalnyi’s companies received over 700 million UAH (nearly $20 million) from the budget for reconstruction. This included international financial aid, notably from the United States.
Markushyn and Rosstalnyi frequently traveled abroad under the “Shlyakh” volunteer system. However, according to the State Customs Service, they never declared the import of humanitarian aid into Ukraine upon their return.
In the case of facilitating draft evaders’ illegal departure, Markushyn has been charged under Part 2 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (organizing the illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine), which carries a penalty of five to seven years in prison and disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to three years.