Charity on Blood: How Tyshchenko, Radkovskyi and Pohadaiev Turned Support for the Armed Forces and Humanitarian Aid into a Multi-Million Business

Four vehicles for the military — $40 thousand kickback into one’s own pocket. Humanitarian aid for displaced people — goods on Odesa markets. Generators intended for communities suffering power outages — another way for deputies to profit. Journalistic investigations 2026 year expose officials who turned the status of philanthropists into a tool for obtaining million-dollar profits.

“Telegraf” explains how deputies-“philanthropists” at various levels may have organized their schemes — Kyiv resident Mykola Tyshchenko, Odesa native Oleh Radkovskyi, and Volodymyr Pohadaiev with Valeriy Khomitskyi from Mykolaiv region.

Schemes of charity from “Kolia-Katleta”

While the country wages a grueling war and Ukrainian men and women give their lives on the front every day, some in high offices found a way to turn a shared tragedy into a profitable business. Instead of genuine help for the army, top officials’ own charitable foundations became instruments for cynical profiteering.

People’s Deputy Mykola Tyshchenko long ago became a regular figure in loud media scandals. His political path was accompanied by questionable restaurants during quarantine, odd trips to Thailand supposedly to meet the Ukrainian community, and a dramatic expulsion from the Servant of the People faction.

But this time the matter went far beyond ordinary political flamboyance and turned criminal. NABU and SAP officially announced suspicion of the politician for extorting over 1 million U.S. dollars (51 million hryvnias) for protecting illegal call centers, legalizing illicit income, and lying in a declaration.

Mykola Tyshchenko, during the VACs hearing on choosing his preventive measure, gives journalists his autograph on an empty cup. Screenshot of Suspilne’s video from the courtroom

One of the key instruments for laundering these funds, according to the investigation, was Tyshchenko’s all-Ukrainian charitable foundation “Way of Peace,” which he oversaw together with his ex-wife and financial partner Alla Baranovska.

During the VACs hearing in Tyshchenko’s case on 3 July this year, the prosecutor presented materials from covert investigative actions and transcriptions from the phones of the figures, which fully exposed the cynicism of this “volunteer” scheme.

Thanks from “KhimProm” and virtual euros

The first prominent 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 a certain Yehor Vasylovych Levchenko. A man with the same name, although the prosecutor did not mention this, is also known as Yehor Burkin and “Meksikanets”; he is considered the 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 Yehor Burkin known as the head of the “KhimProm” syndicate

According to data disclosed by the prosecutor, the foundation, through event agencies, expressed thanks to Levchenko for providing “non-repayable aid” in amounts of 40 000 euros, 60 000 dollars and 80 000 euros (about 8,8 million hryvnias — Ed.) allegedly for organizing charity evenings. However, when analyzing the financial condition of the intermediaries, investigators discovered that the thousands of euros and dollars listed could actually have ended up in Tyshchenko’s pockets. In particular, the mentioned “thanks” were backdated — the prosecutor gave an example that one of the thank-you letters for supporting a “charity evening” bears a May date, while the event actually took place in June. According to the prosecution’s version, the foundation was simply used to legalize dirty money of unknown origin that the deputy then received.

Romanian firms and instructions to “draw a check for transportation”

The second part of the scheme was the purchase of cars for the front through the foundation, details of which prosecutors read from data obtained after examining the phone of a certain Mr. Sitak. Entrepreneur Volodymyr Sitak, it should be recalled, has long been Tyshchenko’s partner in the restaurant business; his son Oleksandr Sitak became an official assistant to the deputy, and in the apartment of his other son Vitaliy in an elite Kyiv residential complex the people’s deputy lived rent-free (the prosecutor did not specify which of the Sitaks was meant, but context implies Vitaliy — Ed.). In correspondence with this person, Alla Baranovska directly discussed how to siphon $40 thousand from charitable contributions.

To report to foreign donors (the conversation mentions “Americans”), who allegedly had already caused a scandal due to lack of reports, the figures decided to artificially inflate expenses using fictitious receipts. The prosecutor read in court Baranovska’s direct instructions on falsifying documents:

“Vitalichka, one more question: for transportation can we draw some kind of receipt that we also spent ‘a couple thousand’ on transportation. Add the cars somehow through the fund, that too. Or can’t we draw such a receipt at all?”

When Sitak assured that, for cover, they were using an outside Romanian company that “has nothing to do with us,” the figures continued discussing the fictitious budget.

“So, on the account there’s 20, you give another 40 thousand in cash. In total we have a budget of 60. But to make us a receipt for 100, we need to deposit 40 into the account, but I’ll return them to you later.”

According to prosecutors, the cost of cars supplied through Tyshchenko’s Way of Peace foundation was deliberately inflated.

25 thousand for “NN”

The main condition of the fraud was a nice image for media and sponsors. Baranovska worried that the cheap cars bought would look unpresentable, so she demanded the correct angles for the photo shoot from Sitak:

“You understand that this will be very little. These four small cars will somehow look really bad. You understand, I need to photograph this so that it looks like $100 thousand. These four…, but no one will believe they cost $25 thousand each. We just need big photos, you understand? Because in a photo four small ones won’t visually pull to a hundred bucks.”

She also ordered that all “fake stickers” be removed from the cars, replaced with crosses and the foundation’s logos, and to wait for the arrival of Mykola Tyshchenko himself, whom in talks they encoded as “NN.”

“So, the total will be 90 — cars, delivery, and somewhere 25 euros to give to NN… For the cars make the receipts for 100. We can make small ones for 20, big ones for 30. That’s a more or less suitable price… Oh, the main thing is that… there can be checks, so everything must be perfect… And NN will come, and we must photograph them.”

The prosecutor emphasized that investigators have documents showing the cars’ prices 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 after the hearing the VACs judge set Tyshchenko’s bail at 10 million hryvnias, which was promptly posted by business structures under his control. The deputy later came out to journalists and, looking them straight in the eye, claimed there was a commissioned campaign against him.

Odesa stalls of Oleh Radkovskyi’s foundation: 50 tons of foreign clothes instead of help for displaced people

It’s not only People’s Deputy Mykola Tyshchenko who cries foul about an alleged setup and provocation. The same defense rhetoric was chosen by the first deputy chair of the Odesa Regional Council, Oleh Radkovskyi. Recently law enforcement exposed the official for extorting 50 thousand U.S. dollars from a local businessman.

Law enforcement detain the first deputy chair of the Odesa regional council. Photo — SBU

For that money the official promised the businessman unobstructed issuance of permit documents for building a cottage town near the port city. If the developer refused to pay, they threatened artificial delays in preparing documents. SBU officers documented the crime and detained the figures after receiving the first part of the bribe in the amount of 10 thousand U.S. dollars.

But several months before this land-and-construction racket, Radkovskyi managed 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 in which the status of philanthropists was used as a cover for large-scale business. Official recipients of free shipments from abroad were charitable foundations, among them, according to Dumska with sources in law enforcement, was the “Ridnyi Bereh” foundation.

How humanitarian aid ended up at Odesa’s “7-th kilometer.” Infographic by “Telegraf”

According to the publication, all documents for the goods passed through three charitable foundations: “Hands of the South,” “Volunteer Wings” and “Ridnyi Bereh.” The latter foundation was allegedly the main one for forging documents for humanitarian aid — through it the main flow of cargo reportedly passed.

It is known that the “Ridnyi Bereh” foundation was founded by Oleh Radkovskyi together with Mykhailo Pozhivanov. The foundation’s details indicate that its founder is LLC “BEREG-GROUP,” which belongs to Radkovskyi, although the activities of that company, according to YouControl, are 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 regular pipeline. Humanitarian cargo was brought by truck to warehouses in Odesa, after which it was transported to Odesa’s 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 an appearance of legality and to issue documents about alleged transfers of aid between charitable organizations, the participants of the scheme massively forged papers. In reality the goods were immediately directed for sale.

Interestingly, according to Dumska, Oleh Radkovskyi actively used the foundation at that time for his own political PR.

“Photo and video reports about allegedly distributed humanitarian aid were published on social networks by Radkovskyi and his party comrade Serhiy Veselov. However, only a tiny portion of the goods was used for reports, while according to documents everything was supposedly distributed,” the publication says.

The overall scale of the philanthropists’ fraud is striking. Law enforcement established that more than 50 tons of humanitarian aid were sold in this way, imported in 11 separate consignments. The approximate value of the goods exceeds 40 million hryvnias.

To dismantle this humanitarian business, the security forces carried out more than 60 large-scale searches. At the stalls of the “7-th kilometer” market and in warehouses they seized documents related to the import and processing of aid, a black ledger, mobile phones and the goods themselves.

Currently, at the request of the Odesa regional prosecutor’s office, the main suspects — including a former customs officer, a representative of the charitable organization and their foreign accomplice — have been remanded in custody with the possibility of posting bail. Radkovskyi himself has not been served a notice of suspicion, but the investigation continues to study the role of top officials in this scheme.

Business on blackouts: how Mykolaiv deputies made 1,3 million hryvnias on charitable generators

If you move down from the level of the Verkhovna Rada and regional councils to settlement-level local government, the cynicism of the schemes does not lessen. In Mykolaiv region law enforcement uncovered a scheme where backup generators for points of invincibility, intended to save people during power outages, became a banal instrument of profiteering.

The first official suspicion in this case was received by the head of Berezanka settlement council Valeriy Khomitskyi. This leader already had a peculiar criminal history: he was previously caught extorting 200 thousand hryvnias in bribes from a local farmer. Then he pleaded guilty, paid a large donation to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, avoided prison and calmly returned to his office.

Valeriy Khomitskyi and Volodymyr Pohadaiev

Initially investigators charged him with the usual Ukrainian reality — inflating equipment costs during tenders paid from the budget. But when law enforcement began to dig deeper into the procurement, participants in the scheme began to hide documents en masse. They ignored official requests and stalled procedural actions by all means.

When the security forces finally obtained access to the hidden papers of the Berezanka settlement council through the court, the reason for the secrecy immediately became clear. It turned out that the private supplier… did not spend his own money on the goods at all. He simply sold the community what he had received for free.

How deputies in Mykolaiv region bought free generators for the community.

Prices and fictitious contracts

Official materials of the criminal case reveal the deal’s details. At the end of December 2022 the settlement council signed a direct contract with an individual entrepreneur (local journalists analyzed the tenders and found that this was FOP Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Pohadaiev). The same name belongs to a current Mykolaiv regional council deputy. The subject of the commercial contract was the supply of 10 gasoline generators for a total exact amount of 1 299 000 hryvnias.

Investigators established that Pohadaiev did not buy these generators. All 10 units of equipment his firm received absolutely free as humanitarian aid from the “Svitli Spravy” charitable foundation. The free foreign aid that the foundation transferred for free distribution among Points of Invincibility, the deputy simply routed through his FOP and sold to his home community at full commercial price.

Screenshot of the court ruling in the case of embezzlement on generators in the Berezanka settlement council

The funds received from the budget for the free goods successfully went to the regional lawmaker’s accounts. According to expert calculations, the net losses for the small settlement community from this one batch alone amounted to over 700 thousand hryvnias. While Berezanka’s head Valeriy Khomitskyi was remanded in custody, deputy Volodymyr Pohadaiev hurriedly closed his FOP. There is no news yet of any suspicion being served to him.

Interestingly, the founders of the “Svitli Spravy” charitable foundation, 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 for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine.

Stories like these prove that for some officials human suffering and war have 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 help. The main task now for the law enforcement system is to bring these cases to real convictions, because without harsh punishment for the guilty it will be impossible to stop this volunteer business on blood.