On November 15, Valerii Stepaniuk, an advisor to Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn, reposted from the Russian Telegram channel “Operation Z: War Correspondents of the Russian Spring” a publication titled “AFU Nazis in Kyiv burst into a meeting and started ‘terrorizing’ deputies and officials” on the official Telegram channel of the “Advisor to the Mayor”. This was reported by “MistoInform”, citing the “Deputies of Irpin” channel.
“This is the first instance in the history of Ukraine’s independence when an official has disseminated misinformation from Russian Telegram channels through the official channel of the mayor’s advisor. As an advisor to Markushyn, Valerii Stepaniuk received UAH 50,336 from the city budget in August 2024. In his role, Stepaniuk has been involved in regular media campaigns of smear tactics,” the publication states.
Irpin City Council deputies demand that Stepaniuk immediately delete the repost from the hostile Telegram channel. They are also calling on Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn to promptly dismiss Stepaniuk from his position as an official advisor to the mayor.
“If Oleksandr Markushyn is determined to keep a pro-Russian propagandist who spreads provocative narratives close at hand, let him appoint Stepaniuk as an unpaid advisor and pay him out of his own pocket. But such pro-Russian scoundrels should not be paid from the budget of war-torn Irpin,” the majority of the Irpin City Council stated to the “Deputies of Irpin” Telegram channel.
Previously, Valerii Stepaniuk was involved in a criminal case for obstructing journalistic activity, but the Irpin police closed the investigation.
Stepaniuk’s dissemination of Russian propaganda was also condemned by Irpin City Council Deputy and Armed Forces of Ukraine Major Aliona Pavlova.
*“Today, Russian intelligence services are actively fighting against Ukraine on various fronts, with misinformation being one of the enemy’s key tools.
Unfortunately, some Ukrainians spread Russian misinformation claiming that ‘AFU soldiers are neo-Nazis.’ I was deeply outraged when the official advisor to Irpin’s mayor, Valerii Stepaniuk, directly reposted a provocative publication from the enemy channel ‘Operation Z: War Correspondents of the Russian Spring’ on the official Telegram channel. Using the Hero City of Irpin’s budget to spread Russian provocations is categorically unacceptable. I demand that Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn immediately dismiss Valerii Stepaniuk. I also call on Irpin City Council Deputy Valerii Stepaniuk to resign immediately. He should have done so in March 2022 when he fled Irpin and hid in Lviv during the war.
I appeal to the leadership of the All-Ukrainian Union “Svoboda” party, under which Valerii Stepaniuk was elected, to initiate the process of recalling this deputy from the Irpin City Council. We will not tolerate the dissemination of Russian propaganda funded by the local budget,”* said Aliona Pavlova.
According to Irpin City Council Deputy Oleksandr Pashchynskyi, Valerii Stepaniuk’s work has not been focused on rebuilding the damaged community but on serving the personal interests of the mayor.
“Instead of creating content about the community’s destroyed infrastructure, Valerii Stepaniuk has used his time and the city’s budget for smear campaigns against the mayor’s political opponents. The final straw was today’s repost of Russian propaganda, calling Ukrainian soldiers neo-Nazis, from the mayor’s advisor’s official channel. I am convinced that republishing the work of Russian war correspondents should not be funded by our community’s budget. I publicly call on Oleksandr Markushyn to dismiss Valerii Stepaniuk from his position,” emphasized Oleksandr Pashchynskyi.
Concerns about pro-Russian ties also extend to Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn. On October 19, “MistoInform” published an article titled “Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn Seizes Assets from a Separatist from Mariupol”. The article alleges that on December 31, 2021, shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Markushyn purchased a plot of land in Irpin through intermediaries. A shopping center has since been built on this land. Interestingly, the land was acquired from separatist Yevhen Kharmyshev, who moved from Irpin to Mariupol, where he became the secretary of the occupation city council.
There are also questions about the connections of Markushyn’s partner, Taisia Yusupova. According to “Novyi Format”, Yusupova was previously involved in questionable activities as a media consultant and once served as chief editor of the TV program “Heads and Tails.”
“Taisia Yusupova, originally from Zaporizhzhia, moved to Irpin in 2023. Media reports indicate she is Markushyn’s partner. According to publicly available data, Yusupova was registered as an entrepreneur in July 2022, with activities including advertising and informational services. OpenData records show that Yusupova is divorced from her former husband, Ihor Koptsev, the founder of the ‘Revival of Donbas’ credit union, which operates in the Russian-occupied city of Alchevsk.
The Security Service of Ukraine should investigate the founders of the credit union to determine any involvement in creating separatist governance structures in the so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic.’ If the enterprise is still registered in the occupied territory, who is it paying taxes to, and is it indirectly financing Russian terror in Ukraine?”* the publication notes.
