Elite house, “fake” divorce and business with subordinates: how Zhytomyr deputy mayor Shevchuk ended up in custody

Elite house, “fake” divorce and business with subordinates: how Zhytomyr deputy mayor Shevchuk ended up in custody

Deputy mayor of Zhytomyr Oleksandr Shevchuk has become a subject of a criminal proceeding on suspicion of illegal enrichment and false asset declaration. Law enforcement believes the official may have hidden assets registered to his ex-wife after a “fake” divorce, and also acquired property whose value significantly exceeds his official income.

This is reported by "Stopkor."

Somewhere they signed a fictitious snow-removal contract, even bought salt for 2,6 million hryvnias during an abnormally warm winter, dug up some sand — and voila… A plot of land appears, a sizable house is built on it, and a new car is purchased. And most interestingly — all these acquisitions are disproportionate to the deputy mayor’s official income.

Our current subject has already been served a notice of suspicion and has been placed under preventive detention with the possibility of release on bail, and law enforcement is working to remove him from office. The main allegations, as you may have guessed, are false declaration and probable concealment of assets. This concerns deputy mayor of Zhytomyr Oleksandr Serhiyovych Shevchuk. We have written about him before, including about the notice of suspicion being served to him.

Now our analysts dug deeper, and it turned out that the fake divorce and false declarations amounting to 9,3 million hryvnias are not all. Interesting are also the business ties of Shevchuk’s alleged ex-wife with his direct subordinates, as well as a substantial list of valuable property that was left out of attention.

Results of the investigation

For the past ten years Oleksandr Shevchuk has held not just high positions — he has been at the very center of decision-making concerning multi-million budgets, municipal enterprises and key areas of the city’s life. These were influential posts that opened wide administrative opportunities.

From 2016 to 2019 year Shevchuk headed the municipal enterprise "Zelenbud" of the Zhytomyr City Council. Later he became head of the Department of Motor Roads ("UASH"), and in 24 December 2019 he was appointed deputy mayor in charge of the executive bodies’ activities.

According to the distribution of powers, he is responsible for transport, communications, informatization and digital technologies. His competence includes coordinating the work of the transport and communications department, the municipal inspectorate and the IT development department, overseeing several municipal enterprises, making proposals to the mayor regarding appointment of their heads, as well as leading commissions and working bodies on road safety, passenger transport, evacuation and sustainable mobility.

There is a lot of work and a lot of opportunities. But already in June 2026 his career took a different turn: Oleksandr Shevchuk was notified of suspicion of illegal enrichment of more than 9,3 million hryvnias.

As stated in the official message of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, during the period of full-scale invasion the deputy mayor acquired assets whose value significantly exceeds his lawful income. In particular, during 2021–2025 years the official purchased a plot of land on which he erected a residential house with a total area of almost 200 sq. m and a Volkswagen Touareg.

The General Prosecutor’s Office message also explicitly states that in order to hide property and not reflect it in annual declarations, the official beforehand “fictitiously” divorced his wife, but continued to live with her and maintain a common household.

We will return to this common household, which, according to the investigation, was not reflected in the declarations, a bit later. Now — about the criminal cases, which look no less “fat” than the positions held by our subject.

Salt for a snowless winter and illegally extracted sand

During Oleksandr Shevchuk’s leadership at "Zelenbud" in 2016–2019 years and at the Department of Motor Roads, which he headed from March to December 2019, the structures were involved in cases of embezzlement of budget funds.

In particular, during Shevchuk’s leadership, the municipal enterprise "Zelenbud" of Zhytomyr City Council became a subject in criminal proceeding No. 42016061020000067. The investigation looked into possible abuse of office and embezzlement of budget funds by officials of "Zelenbud", including through illegal write-off of fuel and lubricants, and possible misappropriation of 780 thousand hryvnias during the purchase of a specialized road machine from LLC "Brod-Vey Resurs Plyus", which, according to the investigation, was supplied in violation of tender conditions and without the necessary registration documentation.

Even more interesting are the criminal cases involving UASH, where Shevchuk was head for less than a year. As stated in the case materials, officials of UASH in the period 2019–2020 years, in collusion with officials of a number of business entities, committed misappropriation of budget funds allocated for city improvement. In particular, the investigation established that under a contract dated 07.08.2019 (at that time Shevchuk was director) with LLC "Ekostroybud Plyus" for the purchase of 10 000 tons of sand for the amount of 1,936 million hryvnias, sand that was actually supplied was illegally extracted in Zhytomyr region, and the supply was not in full, while forged documents and fictitious supply chains through controlled companies were used to cover up the scheme.

In addition, UASH concluded a number of contracts with private and municipal housing maintenance enterprises for clearing sidewalks of snow for over 3 million hryvnias (from December 2019 the director was another person), but in fact the work was either not performed at all or was carried out by UASH’s own equipment, and funds were embezzled through payments to "front" persons and fictitious equipment rentals. The case materials also mention searches at the Zhytomyr deputy mayor’s residence, where drafts of reports on budget transfers to UASH were seized.

The media also covered the purchase of technical salt for 2,6 million hryvnias in the snowless winter of 2019. According to investigative journalism materials, it was during the period when Oleksandr Shevchuk headed UASH that the enterprise held a tender to purchase technical salt for winter road maintenance, and after the winner was selected he, as director of the enterprise, signed the corresponding contract with the supplier. The investigation’s authors also note that despite the abnormally warm winter of 2019–2020 years, UASH purchased significant volumes of technical salt, analyze possible violations during the procurement and point to the existence of a criminal proceeding regarding the circumstances of the use of budget funds.

The fruitful work of Oleksandr Shevchuk as head of UASH can also be measured by the number of tenders held from March to December 2019. According to clarity-project data, 169 procurements with an expected value of 58.97 million hryvnias were successfully conducted. 155 contracts were signed for 51.27 million hryvnias. Some of the procurements conducted during that period fell under DASU monitoring.

Family matters

Now more detail about that same fictitious divorce, which is not a journalists’ or public speculation but is based on official information from the General Prosecutor’s Office. Those are the data we rely on.

It happened after sixteen years of marriage — in July 2020, when Oleksandr Shevchuk was already serving as deputy mayor of Zhytomyr. By the way, we have previously reported about the mayor’s adviser who flew to Miami at the city’s expense. You can view that material at the link.

Thus, a significant part of the Shevchuk family’s property, including numerous apartments, a beauty salon and a hop complex, was re-registered to the wife by gift agreements precisely on the eve of the divorce.

Moreover, one of the real estate objects is jointly owned by Shevchuk’s wife, Iryna Serhiivna Shevchuk, and the current head of the municipal enterprise "Zelenbud", which may indicate close ties with structures subordinate to him. This concerns a hop complex in the village of Pishchanka, Zhytomyr region, with a total area of 810,0 sq. m. It was acquired back in 2011 and split in half: one half belongs to Shevchuk’s former wife, the other to Volokita Oleksandr Volodymyrovych, who now heads "Zelenbud". This is the same enterprise that Shevchuk previously led and whose activities are now, according to his official powers, within his coordination. Notably, this property is absent from Volokita’s declaration for 2025 year.

In addition, the General Prosecutor’s Office published information about Shevchuk’s newly built house on a plot in the village of Teteriv, Zhytomyr district, which he acquired while serving as deputy mayor.

It is worth noting that this plot belongs to agricultural land, so a question arises as to how a residential house could have been officially registered on it.

At the same time, according to the General Prosecutor’s Office, the plot and the newly built residential house of 200 sq. m were registered to Iryna Shevchuk. However, as of July 2026, such a house is not listed among the real estate objects in her ownership.

By the way, in the photo published by law enforcement you can see a car parked near the house. If it is the same brown Volkswagen Touareg 2013 model year, purchased in 2023, then it is a vehicle that, according to the prosecutor’s office, does not correspond to the official income of the official. The price of such a car on the secondary market can range from 16 to 23 thousand dollars.

The ex-wife also owns another house in Zhytomyr on Pokrovska Street, which Oleksandr Shevchuk uses. She acquired the house by gift agreement in July 2020 — shortly before the divorce that took place that same month.

The house’s area is 131,2 sq. m. It consists of three living rooms and service premises.

And, as clearly visible in the photo, next to this house is the beauty salon of Shevchuk’s former wife. Before the divorce the official declared this premises of 106,4 sq. m as an office. However, in 2020 the ownership of it was again re-registered to the wife by gift agreement.

In addition, the ex-wife owns an apartment of 30,8 sq. m in Zhytomyr on Korolenka Street, building 8, apartment **. Ownership was acquired on 1 July 2017. Before the divorce Oleksandr Shevchuk declared this apartment, and in 2020 the ownership was also re-registered to her by gift agreement.

Moreover, Iryna Shevchuk owns another apartment of 48,7 sq. m in an old housing stock building in Zhytomyr on Marshal Zhukov Street, building 27, apartment **. Ownership of this object was acquired on 4 April 2007. Before the divorce Oleksandr Shevchuk declared this apartment as his wife’s property.

Property left with the official

After the divorce it appears, at first glance, that not much remained for Oleksandr Shevchuk. In short, officially he apparently has nowhere to live, but the potential business remained.

According to the declaration for 2025 year, he owns a plot of land in Zhytomyr, purchased in 2005, with a total area of 500 sq. m.

Shevchuk also declared a plot of 137 sq. m in Zhytomyr, the right to which, according to the declaration, he acquired on 26 September 2015. However, according to an extract from the State Register of Property Rights to Real Estate, this plot is not in his ownership but is leased. The lease right was granted by the Zhytomyr City Council in 2015 for a period of five years.

So the question arises: was this plot later privatized, or does the declaration contain false information about the form of right to it.

As discovered in the analytical process, the official did not indicate in the declaration a real estate object of over 1300 sq. m in the village of Oliivka acquired in 2011. This property consists of a four-row cowshed building, which is not a separately located real estate object.

According to Google Maps data, on this territory next to the so-called cowshed of Shevchuk there is the Golden Fleece restaurant and a constructed swimming pool.

What’s the bottom line?

Currently Oleksandr Shevchuk is a subject of a criminal proceeding on suspicion of illegal enrichment and false declaration. The sanction of the alleged article provides for five to ten years of imprisonment.

At the same time, at present it is only a suspicion, and the final assessment of all the circumstances must be given by the court. Until a guilty verdict is rendered, Shevchuk is presumed innocent.

Meanwhile, the journalistic analysis conducted made it possible to reveal a number of facts that are rather indicative. This concerns not only property that may have been left out of declarations, but also business ties with persons from his closest official circle, re-registration of assets prior to the divorce through gift agreements, as well as criminal proceedings related to municipal enterprises that the official headed in different years. Each of these facts alone does not prove the subject’s guilt, but together they form a picture that undoubtedly constitutes public interest and, in our view, deserves thorough legal evaluation by competent authorities.