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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Four vehicles for the military — $40 thousand kickback into a personal pocket. Humanitarian aid for displaced people — merchandise at Odesa markets. Generators intended for communities suffering blackouts — another way for deputies to profit. Journalistic investigations 2026 this year expose officials who turned the status of benefactors into a tool for earning millions.
Telegraph explains how deputies-"benefactors" of various levels may have organized their schemes — Kyiv resident Mykola Tyshchenko, Odesa native Oleh Radkovskyi, and Volodymyr Pohadaiev with Valerii Khomytskyi from Mykolaiv region.
Schemes in charity from "Kolia-kotleti"
While the country fights a grinding war and Ukrainian men and women give their lives daily at the front, some in high offices found a way to turn a collective tragedy into a profitable business. Instead of sincere aid to the army, the personal charitable funds of high-ranking officials became instruments for cynical profiteering.
People’s Deputy Mykola Tyshchenko has long been a regular figure in sensational media scandals. His political path has been accompanied by dubious restaurants during quarantine, strange trips to Thailand supposedly to meet the Ukrainian community, and his high-profile expulsion from the Servant of the People faction.
But this time the matter went far beyond ordinary political provocation and turned criminal. NABU and SAP officially declared suspicion against the politician for extorting more than 1 million US dollars (51 million hryvnias) for shielding illegal call centers, laundering illegal proceeds, and falsehoods in a declaration.
Mykola Tyshchenko during the High Anti-Corruption Court hearing on choosing a preventive measure gives journalists his autograph on an empty cup. Screenshot of a Suspilne video from the courtroom
One of the key instruments for laundering these funds, according to the investigation, was Mykola Tyshchenko’s All-Ukrainian Charitable Foundation "Doroga Myru" (Way of Peace), which he oversaw together with his former wife and financial partner Alla Baranovska.
During the hearing in Tyshchenko’s case at the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), which took place 3 July this year, the prosecutor released materials from covert investigative actions and transcriptions from the phones of those involved, fully revealing the cynicism of this “volunteer” scheme.
Thanks to “Khimprom” and virtual euros
The first sensational episode from the court materials — official letters of thanks from a company that worked in the interests of Mykola Tyshchenko’s charitable foundation, addressed to one Yehor Vasylovych Levchenko. A man with that same name, although the prosecutor did not mention it, is also known as Yehor Burkin and "Mexikanets" (the Mexican); he is considered an organizer of the powerful international syndicate "Khimprom," which profits from drugs and call centers, and is currently internationally wanted.
Funds to Tyshchenko’s foundation were transferred by Yehor Vasylovych Levchenko, likely the same person as Yehor Burkin, known as head of the "Khimprom" syndicate
According to data released by the prosecutor, the foundation, through event agencies, expressed thanks to Levchenko for providing “non-repayable assistance” in amounts of 40 000 euros, 60 000 dollars and 80 000 euros (about 8,8 million hryvnias — Ed.) supposedly for organizing charity evenings. However, during analysis of the intermediaries’ financial condition, investigators found that the indicated thousands of euros and dollars could actually have ended up in Tyshchenko’s pockets. In particular, the cited “thank-you” letters were issued retroactively — the prosecutor gave an example where one of the thanks for supporting a “charity evening” bore a May date, although the event actually took place in June. According to the prosecution, the foundation was merely used to launder dirty money of unknown origin, which the deputy later received.
Romanian firms and instructions to draw up a "two" for transportation
The second part of the scheme involved purchasing vehicles for the front through the foundation, details of which prosecutors read from data obtained after examining the phone of one Mr. Sitak. Entrepreneur Volodymyr Sitak, recall, is a long-time partner of Mykola Tyshchenko in the restaurant business; his son Oleksandr Sitak became an official aide to the deputy, and the deputy lived free of charge in the Kyiv elite housing complex apartment of his other son Vitalii (the prosecutor did not specify which of the Sitaks was involved, but context suggests Vitalii — Ed.). In correspondence with this person, Alla Baranovska directly discusses how to siphon $40 thousand from charitable contributions.
To report to foreign donors (the conversation mentions “Americans”), who allegedly had already made a fuss about the lack of reports, the participants decided to artificially inflate expenses using fictitious receipts. The prosecutor read in court Baranovska’s direct instructions regarding document falsification:
"Vitalichka, one more question: for transportation can we make up some receipt that we also spent a 'two' on transportation. Add cars somehow through the foundation, that too. Or can’t we draw up such a receipt at all?"
When Sitak assured them that, to cover it up, they were using an outside Romanian company that "has nothing to do with us," the participants continued discussing the fictitious budget.
"So, on the account there's 20, you give another 40 thousand in cash. So our budget is 60. But to make us a receipt of 100, we still need to put 40 on the account, but I’ll return them to you later."
According to prosecutors, the cost of vehicles supplied through Tyshchenko’s foundation "Way of Peace" was deliberately inflated.
25 thousand for "NN"
The main condition of the scheme was an attractive picture for the media and sponsors. Baranovska was very worried that the cheap purchased cars would look unpresentable, so she demanded correct angles for the photo session from Sitak:
"You understand that it will be very little. These four small cars will somehow look really poor. You understand, I need to photograph it so that it looks like $100 thousand. These are four…, but no one will believe that they cost $25 thousand each. We just need big photos, you know? Because in a photo four small ones won’t visually pull the hundred bucks."
She also ordered that all “fake stickers” be removed from the cars, that crosses and the foundation’s logos be affixed instead, and that they wait for the arrival of Mykola Tyshchenko himself, whom in conversations they encoded as "NN."
"So, the total will be 90 — cars, delivery, and somewhere around 25 euros to give to NN… Make the car receipts for 100. We can sort of make small ones at 20, big ones at 30. That’s a more-or-less suitable price… Oh, the main thing is… there could be inspections, so everything must be perfect… And NN will arrive, and we must photograph them."
The prosecutor emphasized that the investigation has documents showing the cars’ cost at the level of $15–16 thousand.
At the end of these arrangements Baranovska reminded her business partner of the main thing: "40 don’t forget to return, or they’ll tear my head off."
Recall that following the hearing, the HACC judge set Tyshchenko’s bail at 10 million hryvnias, which was promptly paid by business structures under his control. The deputy later came out to journalists and, looking them straight in the eye, declared there was a commissioned campaign against him.
Odesa market stalls of Oleh Radkovskyi’s foundation: 50 tons of foreign clothing instead of help for displaced people
Not only People’s Deputy Mykola Tyshchenko cries “commissioned campaign” and “provocation.” The same defensive rhetoric was chosen by the first deputy chair of the Odesa Regional Council, Oleh Radkovskyi. Recently law enforcement exposed the official for demanding 50 thousand US dollars from a local entrepreneur.
Law enforcement detain the first deputy chair of the Odesa regional council. Photo — SBU
For that money, the official promised the businessman unhindered processing of permits for building a cottage town near the port city. If the developer refused to pay, he was threatened with artificial delays in preparing documents. SBU employees documented the crime and detained the suspects after receiving the first part of the bribe in the amount of 10 thousand US dollars.
But several months before that land-and-construction racket, Radkovskyi had time to become one of the central figures in another cynical scandal related to the embezzlement of humanitarian aid.
An official investigation by the Odesa regional prosecutor’s office and materials from journalistic investigations revealed a scheme where the status of benefactors was used as cover for large-scale business. The official recipients of free cargoes from abroad were charitable foundations, among which, as the publication Dumska reports citing sources in law enforcement, was the "Ridnyi Bereh" (Native Shore) foundation.
How humanitarian aid ended up at Odesa’s "7-th kilometer." Telegraph infographic
According to the publication, all documents for the goods were handled through three charitable foundations: "Hands of the South," "Volunteer Wings" and "Ridnyi Bereh." The last fund was allegedly the main one forging documents for humanitarian aid — supposedly the primary cargo flow went through it.
It is known that Radkovskyi founded the "Ridnyi Bereh" fund together with Mykhailo Pozhyvanov. The fund’s details show that its founder is TOV "BEREG-GROUP," owned by Radkovskyi, although the activities of this company, according to YouControl, are currently officially suspended after bankruptcy.
Black ledger and sixty searches
The essence of the scheme documented by prosecutors was the simple commercial sale of new clothing and footwear imported into Ukraine as free charitable aid for displaced people and needy citizens. According to the investigation, from October last year to April this year the perpetrators established a steady flow. Humanitarian cargo was delivered by truck to warehouses in Odesa, after which it was taken to the Odesa general goods market "7-th kilometer" and sold for money.
Investigative actions of the National Police in the case of embezzled humanitarian aid in Odesa. Photo — National Police
To create the appearance of legality and to draw up documents on the alleged transfer of aid between charitable organizations, scheme participants massively forged papers. In reality, the goods went directly to sale.
Interestingly, according to Dumska, Oleh Radkovskyi himself at that time actively used the foundation for his own political PR.
"Photo and video reports of supposedly distributed humanitarian aid were published on social networks by Radkovskyi and his party associate Serhii Veselov. However, only a tiny part of the goods was actually used for reports, while according to the documents everything was distributed," the publication says.
The overall scale of the benefactors’ fraud is striking. Law enforcement established that they thus sold over 50 tons of humanitarian aid, which was imported in 11 separate batches. The approximate value of the goods exceeds 40 million hryvnias.
To dismantle this humanitarian business, security forces conducted more than 60 large-scale searches. At the stalls of the "7-th kilometer" market and at warehouses they seized documents related to import and registration of aid, a black ledger, mobile phones and the goods themselves.
At present, at the request of the Odesa regional prosecutor’s office the main suspects — among them a former customs officer, a representative of a charitable organization and their foreign accomplice — have been taken into custody with the possibility of posting bail. Radkovskyi himself has not been served a suspicion, but the investigation continues to examine the role of top officials in the scheme.
Business on blackouts: how Mykolaiv deputies made 1,3 million hryvnias on charity generators
If you descend from the level of the Verkhovna Rada and regional councils to settlement-level local government, the cynicism of the operations does not diminish. In Mykolaiv region law enforcement uncovered a scheme where backup generators for resilience points, intended to save people during power outages, were turned into a plain tool for profiteering.
The first official suspicion in this case was received by the head of Berezanka settlement council Valerii Khomytskyi. This official already had a specific criminal past: earlier he was caught extorting 200 thousand hryvnias in bribe from a local farmer. Then he pleaded guilty, made a large donation to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, avoided prison and quietly returned to his office.
Valerii Khomytskyi and Volodymyr Pohadaiev
At first investigators charged him with the usual Ukrainian reality of inflating equipment costs during tenders paid from the budget. However, when law enforcement started to dig deeper into the procurement of the generators, participants began to hide documents en masse. They ignored official requests and used every means to delay procedural actions.
When, through the courts, security forces gained access to the hidden papers of the Berezanka settlement council, the reason for such secrecy immediately became clear. It turned out the private supplier… did not spend his own money on the goods at all. He simply sold the community items he had received for free.
How deputies in Mykolaiv region bought free generators for the community.
Prices and fictitious contracts
Official criminal case materials reveal details of the deal. At the end of December 2022 the settlement council signed a direct contract with an individual entrepreneur (local journalists analyzed tenders and established that it was FOP Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Pohadaiev). The same name belongs to a current deputy of the Mykolaiv regional council. The commercial contract concerned the supply of 10 gasoline generators for the exact total amount of 1 299 000 hryvnias.
The investigation found that Pohadaiev did not purchase these generators. All 10 units of equipment his business received completely free as humanitarian aid from the charitable foundation "Svitli Spravy" (Bright Deeds). The free foreign aid, which the foundation transferred for free distribution among Resilience Points, the deputy simply passed through his FOP and sold to his native community at full commercial price.
Screenshot of the court ruling in the case of embezzlement on generators in the Berezanka settlement council
The budget funds received for the free goods successfully went to the regional official’s accounts. According to expert calculations, the net loss for the small settlement community on just this one batch exceeded 700 thousand hryvnias. While settlement head Valerii Khomytskyi was remanded in custody, deputy Volodymyr Pohadaiev hurriedly closed his FOP. There’s been no news yet of a suspicion against him.
Interestingly, the founders of the charitable foundation "Svitli Spravy," which provided these generators for free, are very well-known people in the country. According to YouControl, among its founders in 2020 were listed Viktoriia Arakhamia (wife of People’s Deputy Davyd Arakhamia) and Hanna Zamazieieva, who previously chaired the Mykolaiv regional council and now heads the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine.
Such stories prove that for some officials people’s suffering and war have simply become another profitable market. The greed of these local actors proved stronger than conscience and common sense, and fake charity discredits the very idea of aid. Now the main task of the law enforcement system is to bring these cases to real convictions, because without strict punishment of the guilty it won’t be possible to stop this volunteer business on blood.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Благодійність на крові: як Тищенко, Радковський і Погадаєв перетворили допомогу ЗСУ, гуманітарку на бізнес із мільйонними оборотами". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: HAB Media.
