Heletey Valeriy Viktorovych

Guard of presidents and Minister of Defense for 103 days, main culprit of the Ilovaisk tragedy

Colonel General, Head of the State Guard Department (2007–2009, 2014–2019). Minister of Defense of Ukraine from July 3 to October 14, 2014 — only 103 days. Graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Internal Affairs; entered the security forces from being a locksmith-auto electrician. While taking the oath, Heletey solemnly promised to hold the victory parade in Ukrainian Sevastopol. Instead of the parade — the Ilovaisk encirclement. When the parliamentary commission summoned him for a report, Heletey refused to respond in an open session, stating: "Everything happening now is a political show. Putin will be glad to learn why his troops were stopped near Ilovaisk." He also classified the lists of dead and missing persons.

The Verkhovna Rada's Special Investigative Commission recorded: "wrong personnel decisions significantly complicated the situation, and the inadequate actions of Minister of Defense Heletey and Chief of the General Staff Muzhenko led to the Ilovaisk tragedy." He soon resigned.

Wedding on the roof of the Premier Palace costing three annual salaries

In 2016, Heletey organized a wedding for his eldest son Oleksandr on the roof of the five-star Premier Palace hotel in Kyiv. According to media estimates, the celebration cost at least 1.5 million UAH — three times more than Heletey's official annual income for 2015. The evening’s host was Yuriy Horbunov, whose fee for corporate events averaged $5,000. Heletey denied the amount but did not provide specific figures.

The publications often mention the "ex-minister's reserved forest" — real estate and land assets that do not correspond to the official income of the military official.