The godmother of former Irpin mayor Oleksandr Markushyn, Lyudmyla Haina, published a post on her Facebook page in support of the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra in the Donetsk region — Russian citizen Ihor Yakovenko (Metropolitan Arsenii). Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) suspects him of espionage and transmitting information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to the occupying state.
In 2024, the SBU formally charged Arsenii with spreading information about the movement, deployment, or location of the AFU that could allow for their identification on the ground (Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
According to the investigation, during a church service, the metropolitan disclosed to parishioners the locations of Defense Forces checkpoints in the Kramatorsk district of Donetsk region. The incident was caught on video.
Back in 2018, Arsenii publicly claimed that the war had been started by Ukraine, not Russia. Later, under his leadership, the Sviatohirsk Lavra hosted a so-called “People of Peace” forum, which, according to the Moscow Patriarchate’s plan, aimed to “reconcile the warring sides.”
“The humanitarian mission of the Church and the Lavra under the guidance of Archbishop Arsenii cannot be compared to anything the state did in Donbas. The Lavra itself suffered heavy shelling — we all saw the craters, the shattered roofs and windows, the walls scarred by shrapnel. The Lavra and the Archbishop wept for and buried their sons, brothers, and monks. And for this, you hate him and take away his health by keeping him in a cage? Free the Archbishop and repent,”— reads Haina’s pro-separatist post.
Markushyn himself also has pro-Russian connections. His close friend and the main contractor for Irpin’s reconstruction, Serhii Rosstalnyi, previously worked as an assistant to former Party of Regions MP Nestor Shufrych, who is accused by the SBU of financing Russia’s National Guard in Crimea.
It is also worth noting that Markushyn re-registered a local boiler house under his godmother Lyudmyla Haina’s name, effectively stealing it from the municipal enterprise Teploenergopostach. A pre-trial investigation has been launched. Markushyn is charged with abuse of office (Part 2, Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) — a crime punishable by three to six years in prison with confiscation of property.
Markushyn continues to deny his involvement in the theft. However, journalists have revealed extensive family and business ties between him and Haina’s family.
Lyudmyla Haina’s husband, Serhii Ivanovych Haina, provides Markushyn with a 2020 Volkswagen Passat for free personal use. Serhii Haina also operated as a private entrepreneur producing office furniture and received hundreds of thousands of hryvnias from the Irpin city budget.
Lyudmyla Haina herself is the founder of TOV “Dyvanchyk”, which — “coincidentally” — during Markushyn’s mayoral term, received 126 municipal payments totaling ₴5,853,230 for furniture supplies. The primary payer was the executive committee of the Irpin City Council, chaired by Markushyn at the time.
Markushyn is also the ultimate beneficiary of TOV “MAG-13”, whose director is Pavlo Haina, the son of Lyudmyla and Serhii Haina. Pavlo’s civil partner, Maria Dovhoshiyenko, worked for several years in Markushyn’s office at the Irpin City Council.
In November 2024, Markushyn’s adviser Valerii Stepaniuk shared a post from a Russian Telegram channel, “Operation Z: Russian War Correspondents…”. Despite the scandal, Markushyn made no public comment and did not dismiss Stepaniuk.
Among Markushyn’s close legal associates is the scandal-ridden Yevheniia Rostolopa, known for her pronounced pro-Russian affiliations. During local elections to the Irpin City Council, Rostolopa ran from the “Servant of the People” party under the quota of Oleksandr Dubinsky, who is currently on trial for state treason and collaboration with the FSB. Dubinsky remains under U.S. sanctions for pro-Russian activity.
One of the companies currently managed by Rostolopa is 15% owned by the Russian firm “KONDOR-EKO” and 34% owned by a Russian citizen. For many years, Rostolopa worked for Irpin developer Ihor Vyshniakov, who defrauded thousands of families by abandoning unfinished housing projects before fleeing — first to Spain, and later to Russia.
Markushyn’s partner and PR manager is Taisiya Yusupova. Her ex-husband, Ihor Kobtsev, was the founder of the credit union “Revival of Donbas” in the occupied city of Alchevsk, Luhansk region.
Markushyn has also been involved in a scandal concerning the acquisition of assets belonging to separatist Yevhenii Kharmyshev from Mariupol. On December 31, 2021, just weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Markushyn purchased a plot of land in Irpin through proxy individuals and later built a shopping center there. In 2022, Kharmyshev returned to Mariupol, where he became secretary of the occupation city council.