On the morning of September 8, police raided the homes of Lviv volunteers Svyatoslav Litinsky and Nazariy Ostrovsky. The police also said that they uncovered a donation scheme under the guise of a charitable foundation, and two suspects are Lviv volunteers.
The Channel 24 website tells everything that is known about this case and what is about it Ukrainian lawyers and activists think.
Search through deception and a car for a chaplain to the front: what is known about the case of volunteers
Svyatoslav Litinsky and Nazar Ostrovsky are defendants in criminal proceedings for the illegal sale of humanitarian aid – cars. The decision to conduct searches was issued on August 16 by the investigating judge of the Goloseevsky District Court of Kyiv, Victoria Khomenko, as part of the criminal proceedings dated June 24, 2022.
According to the search warrant, Litinsky and Ostrovsky are accused of being, along with chaplain Igor Plokhy, involved in enrichment through the sale of vehicles intended for humanitarian aid.
According to Litinsky, the police came to him under the pretext of handing over subpoenas, and when the volunteer's wife opened the door (the volunteer himself was not at home), they showed the search warrant.
In such a fraudulent way, they entered the house and, in the end, they did not hand over the summons, but the decision to search. From it, I understood that the Kyiv police accuse the church, represented by the chaplain, of selling humanitarian aid. I have nothing to do with it at all,” Litinsky explained.
The volunteer does not understand why they came to him with searches if they suspect the chaplain. According to the activist, this chaplain is now at the front. The activist himself never drove cars for him. The volunteer added that he was conducting a public collection and reporting on all the money spent.
At about the same time, searches were also carried out in the apartment of Ostrovsky, who was also engaged in the search and import of cars for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
It’s hard for me to comment on something now – I’m being searched. But this is pure fabrication. I'm very surprised. As far as I understand, this question is not so much about me, but about the chaplain to whom we handed over the car. We, as they say, “go trailer.” I physically delivered this car for chaplain Igor Plokhoy, who is now serving in the Nikolaev direction, – the volunteer said.Criminal case and preparation of suspicions: the police speak about the case of volunteers
On July 28, the head of the National Police, Ihor Klimenko, reported: his department is investigating 320 cases of fraud and misuse of humanitarian aid. Everyone is charged with the same article, which only this year appeared in the criminal code – the use of humanitarian aid for profit. The punishment for her is from a fine and correctional labor to 7 years in prison.
In Ukraine, since the beginning of a full-scale war, there have been repeated news about the theft of humanitarian aid. And now the police seem to have taken up these cases, but the names of well-known volunteers with a good reputation appeared on the list of suspects, which confused the society.
The police say that the volunteers face imprisonment/Collage 24 channel< /em>
Marina Tsybchenko, an investigator from the police department in Kyiv, said that law enforcement officers allegedly exposed a criminal scheme where men appropriated humanitarian aid.
They allegedly sold cars for profit, which came to Ukraine as humanitarian aid from foreign countries and were intended for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. All investigative actions are ongoing, including searches at the place of residence of volunteers in Kyiv, Kyiv region and Lvov.
The police have launched criminal proceedings and the men face 5 to 7 years in prison. The issue of reporting suspicion to them is also being resolved.
Half of the country is now volunteers, will they also come to them? How local authorities react to searches
Lvov Mayor Andrey Sadovyy commented on the searches at Svyatoslav Litinsky's house. He advised law enforcement to deal with the owners of Russian businesses in Lviv, and not with volunteers who help the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
They came with searches to Svyatoslav Litinsky. These are people who give their own time and money, often risking their lives to deliver a car to the front. We have half the country volunteered. Will they come tomorrow too? – Sadovy wrote.
The Lviv mayor called for the expulsion of the occupiers from Ukraine, “and not to destroy the institution of volunteering, which is so important for all of us in this difficult time.”
Undermining the authority of volunteers: what experts say
Ukrainian lawyers and activists say that this whole case is fabricated. And the Ministry of Internal Affairs just started hunting for volunteers.
Eugene Savisko, an expert of the public movement “All Together!”, says that there may be two real motives for searches. First: investigation of the actual facts of the theft of humanitarian aid. And here searches will be carried out at everyone who, in the opinion of the investigation, may be related to this. The second is the purge of volunteers as potential competitors in the upcoming elections. They will become an influential factor, so already now some political forces are trying to bring volunteers closer to themselves.
Dmytro Gordienko, Candidate of Historical Sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies named after N. S. Hrushevsky of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, assured that all this was a smoke screen after the scandal in Zaporozhye with the theft of humanitarian aid.
Lviv is one of the first to accept Western humanitarian aid. Objectively, there may be abuses, unscrupulous activists and volunteers. However, in general, this is a smoke curtain on the Zaporozhye scandal and undermining the authority of the volunteer movement,” Gordienko believes.
One of the cars that Litinsky sent to the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Photo from Facebook Svyatoslav Litinsky< /p>
Yaroslav Zhukrovsky, a lawyer, believes that in order for a volunteer to protect himself from possible “claims” from law enforcement agencies, it is necessary to have appropriate documents confirming such facts in all cases of transferring humanitarian aid for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
For example, if a car was brought from another country for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there must be an act of acceptance and transfer of this vehicle to the corresponding military unit. It is important to carefully keep documentation of the receipt of funds and the use of these funds, says the lawyer.
He added that volunteers in such situations should develop a model plan of action and response to potential searches and form a pool of lawyers to protect their rights during pre-trial investigations.
Svyatoslav Litinsky at the actions in support of Oles Dzyndra/Photo from the volunteer's Facebook
What is known about other cases against volunteers
- On August 30, the Galician District Court of Lviv chose a measure of restraint for the Lviv artist Oles Dzyndry and volunteer Yury Muzychuk. Law enforcement agencies accused them of selling cars imported from abroad with zero customs clearance as humanitarian aid.
- On August 19, the suspicion of the illegal implementation of humanitarian aid carried out under martial law was also announced to the head of the Fund's Armed Forces Support Department” Good deed” Olga Kosovan. The woman called it a “nightmare” for law enforcement volunteers.
