Who is responsible for the fact that Ukrainian diplomats and border guards created a smuggling channel to Europe?
Yuriy Butusov investigates.
On February 23, 2024 it was reported that a minibus from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was detained in Hungary. The driver, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee, and Larisa Shmelova, the wife of the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary, Dmytro Shmelov, were apprehended.
In the minibus, 141,000 packs of cigarettes were found in cardboard boxes wrapped in black foil. The driver was taken into custody and faces up to 8 years in prison. Larisa Shmelova was not detained due to diplomatic immunity.
The Hungarians essentially showed that high-ranking Ukrainian officials had created an illegal smuggling channel.
On the same day, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced an internal investigation. However, neither the President of Ukraine, nor the Minister of Foreign Affairs, nor the head of the State Border Guard Service has reported the results of this investigation in a case that discredits Ukraine.
In Ukraine, the investigation of this case was taken over by the employees of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
On May 2, NABU detectives conducted searches in the 27th Border Detachment in the Zakarpattia region. NABU is investigating the involvement of border guards in ensuring the smuggling channel to Europe, which was created by the diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to Censor.Net sources, up to 8 minibuses with diplomatic signs might have been involved in the smuggling channel for transporting cigarettes. Passengers of these minibuses were individuals with Ukrainian diplomatic immunity, namely: M.P. Kugaivska, the wife of the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary, A.O. Kotsiurba; L.M. Shmelova, the wife of the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary, D.O. Shmelov; N.V. Zahorska, the wife of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee, A.V. Zahorsky; as well as R.V. Galan, O.B. Havrysh, P.P. Romaniuk, and other individuals. This information is being verified.
It is evident that a group of individuals, which is a sign of an organized group, was created and managed by someone of significantly higher status and influence.
According to media reports, smuggling across the state border may be controlled by one of Volodymyr Zelensky’s trusted individuals, one of the organizers of the Servant of the People party, Vadym Sliusarev, a former major general of the Border Guard Service, who has become one of the wealthiest businessmen in Ukraine under Zelensky and has acquired many businesses during the war. Journalists wrote about Sliusarev’s long-term involvement in cigarette smuggling in 2021.
I hope this scandal will receive an official explanation from the President, who is legally responsible for our foreign policy, from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and that all those who created and collected money for the smuggling will at least be removed from their official positions.
Yuriy Butusov
Tags: corruption corruption in Ukraine investigation MFA Ukraine Ukraine government
