Maria Levchenko, Volodymyr Zelensky, Alexander Gogilashvili. Source: facebook.com
The scandal surrounding the rude behavior of former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Alexander Gogilashvili on the road at the entrance to the Joint Forces Operation zone continues. New facts are emerging about the past of the disgraced official, who was finally fired on Monday, December 13, writes Alexey Romanov for Country.
As a reminder, Strana has already written several times about how Deputy Interior Minister Gogilashvili found himself in scandal and what is generally known about him. He is the husband of Maria Levchenko, the longtime secretary. Vladimir ZelenskyGogilashvili was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs in the fall of 2019, following the victory of Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party in the elections. However, prior to 2019, the official lacked the work experience or higher education required for such a position.
Now we have gathered new facts about the disgraced former deputy minister and his ties to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Alexander Gogilashvili worked in a drug trafficking center assisted by Zelensky.
Strana reported that Deputy Interior Minister Gogilashvili may have been involved in a network of "rehabilitation centers" that tortured and kidnapped people. This was reported by Artem Osipyan, a former national human rights monitor on drug policy. Osipyan, as part of his job, had previously visited the network of rehabilitation centers for alcohol and drug addicts where Alexander Gogilashvili once worked.
The public organization of "drug fighters" where the scandalous former deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs previously worked is called the "Youth Health Center." He listed it as his primary place of employment in his 2018 income tax return:
Source: public.nazk.gov.ua
In 2019, before his appointment as deputy minister in September, he worked there, earning almost 24,000 hryvnias in salary for less than nine months of work:
Source: public.nazk.gov.ua
According to media reports, Alexander Gogilashvili served as the head of the press service at the Center for Healthy Youth and its affiliated organizations. Yevgeny Nerukh headed the organization until 2017. In a February 2014 interview with the publication "Bulvar," Nerukh spoke in detail about the organization's activities.
According to the publication, Volodymyr Zelenskyy served on the board of trustees of the Healthy Youth Center before the Maidan:
Maria Levchenko and Volodymyr Zelensky are in the center of the photo. Source: bulvar.com.ua
According to media reports, the former head of the Healthy Youth Center, Yevgeny Nerukh, died in 2019 from a drug overdose.
One of the first public events Volodymyr Zelenskyy held as head of state was the opening of a sports and therapeutic camp run by the International Anti-Drug Association (IAA), which includes the Healthy Youth Center. According to the president's website, Zelenskyy has been supporting the IAA for several years:
Center: Volodymyr Zelenskyy with his wife, Alexander Gogilashvili. Source: president.gov.ua
Drug addicts were kidnapped and tortured
As Strana reported, multiple kidnapping charges have been brought against the Healthy Youth Center, where the scandalous former deputy minister worked. The scheme involved an illegal "lock-up for drug addicts": relatives harassed by drug or alcohol addicts can negotiate for a fee to provide them with "treatment" and "rehabilitation."
Typically, this is done forcibly and without the "patient's" consent. Essentially, it amounts to the kidnapping and forcible detention of drug addicts.
No one diagnoses drug addiction or requires a court order. Placing someone against their will in such a center costs only a small amount of money.
Several media outlets also reported on the Center's ties to the Protestant sect "Kingdom of God." Journalists also reported dozens of court cases involving kidnappings, unlawful imprisonment, possible murders, and other serious crimes related to networks of illegal drug clinics.
In May 2021, the Slidstvo.Info project published an investigation, "The Kidnappers Association." Journalists uncovered numerous instances of drug addicts being forcibly transported to "rehabilitation centers" operating under the auspices of the aforementioned International Anti-Drug Association, of which the Healthy Youth Center is a member.
In the court records, Strana found evidence to support these allegations. For example, a criminal case is underway in Kharkiv, where investigators claim eight people were illegally detained at an MMA facility. The case includes a victim with bodily injuries, confirmed by an expert examination. This is stated in the ruling of the Zhovtnevy District Court of Kharkiv:
Source: reyestr.court.gov.ua
Another telling incident occurred in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where a "volunteer" at the "Healthy Youth Center" rehabilitation center was charged with unlawful deprivation of liberty (Article 146 of the Criminal Code) and torture (Article 127 of the Criminal Code). Under the pretext of treating alcoholism, the defendant forcibly detained 12 people.
Furthermore, in December 2017, allegedly to punish them for violating the "rules" in effect at the rehabilitation center, the defendant bound two victims, including a minor, to a chair with duct tape. This was stated in a ruling by the Babushkinsky District Court of Dnipropetrovsk:
Source: reyestr.court.gov.ua
This criminal case was bounced around between various courts for several years. Finally, on November 24 of this year, the case was closed due to the expiration of the pre-trial investigation period.
The public registry of court decisions contains several dozen cases under Article 146 of the Criminal Code, "Unlawful Deprivation of Liberty," which mention the "International Anti-Drug Association" and the "Youth Health Center." This "network" also includes other centers registered to other legal entities.
In 2020, human rights monitors attempted to enter MAA centers several times, but were denied entry. Human rights activists also received numerous complaints and statements regarding the illegal abduction and detention of people by MAA facilities.
Is a network of drug clinics operating under a "black flag"?
Strana discovered the website of the "Healthy Youth Center," where the former deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs worked. The theory about "treating drug addicts for money" was confirmed: the Center openly offers treatment for drug, alcohol, and gambling addictions. The Center's services are paid, with drug addiction rehabilitation starting at 8 hryvnias, and alcohol addiction rehabilitation starting at 7 hryvnias.
Source: czm.ua
The "Licenses and Certificates" section of the Center's website doesn't actually list any licenses. There are only two "certificates" of completion of some courses for Vyacheslav Khrul (apparently one of the Center's employees), as well as a certificate of state registration of a public organization, and two other non-binding letters. The first letter is a "letter of support" from the head physician of a Kyiv drug addiction clinic from 2010. The second letter is from the Children's Affairs Service of the Solomensky District Administration of Kyiv regarding "cooperation," dated 2013:
Source: czm.ua
In other words, the "Healthy Youth Center" doesn't have any official medical licenses. But it advertises addiction treatment, essentially operating under a black flag.
The Center's branches are located in regional and even some district centers throughout Ukraine, as well as in Chisinau and Tbilisi. According to the organization itself, there are approximately 30 such branches.
However, no contact information for these branches—neither addresses nor phone numbers—is published on the Center's website. All communication with clients is centralized, and the organization's website only lists Kyiv phone numbers.
What does Russia have to do with it
It turns out that the "Center for Healthy Youth," where the former deputy minister of internal affairs previously worked, is an international organization operating in several former Soviet countries. The controversial deputy minister himself, according to media reports, holds a valid Russian passport. This was reported by the newspaper "Strana."
In the aforementioned interview with Bulvar, the late director of the Center in Ukraine, Yevgeny Nerukh, stated: "After rehabilitation, we don't abandon the person to their fate—we offer specialized resocialization and help them reintegrate into society. In Kharkiv, resocialization is sports-based, at the Oplot team (mixed martial arts), and in Moscow, it's media art (the guys are staging a play at the Yevgeny Mironov Theater)."
The Kharkiv organization "Oplot," mentioned by Nerukh, actively participated in the Anti-Maidan protests in 2013 and 2014. Oplot's leader, Yevgeny Zhilin, was killed in the Moscow region in September 2016.
Some online sources are publishing a screenshot of a form allegedly submitted by Russian citizen Alexander Genrikhovich Gogilashvili to replace his passport due to damage to the document. His official registration address is listed as 25 Pushkinskaya Street, Rostov:
Source: facebook.com
Information is also actively circulating online that Alexander Gogilashvili previously worked in the Leningrad region, where he met Russian boxer and State Duma deputy Alexander Valuev and collaborated with him on various projects to help children.
Photo: Alexander Valuev and Alexander Gogilashvili
Zelensky's secretary is still on the payroll at Kvartal.
The disgraced official's wife, Maria Levchenko, has long served as Zelenskyy's secretary, but apparently unofficially for the past two years. According to Alexander Gogilashvili's 2020 income tax declaration, she was listed as her primary employer and officially paid by Kvartal 95 LLC, a key subsidiary of the Kvartal media group, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy headed before his election as president.
Source: public.nazk.gov.ua
Alexander Gogilashvili confirmed his wife's salary at Kvartal in his 2019 income tax return. At that time, he first worked at the Healthy Youth Center and then moved to the position of deputy minister:
Source: public.nazk.gov.ua
As a reminder, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Gogilashvili caused a scene at the first checkpoint upon entering the Donetsk region because police were demanding a stop. The car didn't stop immediately, as requested by the police, but instead drove forward a few meters. After the stop, Alexander Gogilashvili began to raise a ruckus and threaten law enforcement officers, asking, "Don't you see who I am?!" Following this, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky initiated an investigation.
Later, Alexander Gogilashvili himself apologized for “excessive emotionality.”
However, this did not help him: on Monday, December 13, the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed the disgraced official from his post.
————————————————————————————-
Drugs and Zelensky: What's behind Gogilashvili's unusual closeness to the Ukrainian president?
The scandal surrounding former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Alexander Gogilashvili continues. He was appointed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the patronage of the Presidential Office and personally by Zelenskyy, whose assistant, Maria Levchenko, is Gogilashvili's wife. The president himself was very close to this seemingly unremarkable man, writes Maxim Minin for Country.
This official cursed police officers at the entrance to the Donetsk region. And it turns out this is a familiar story for him—a new video of insults directed at the patrol officers has surfaced online.
Following these leaks, everyone began digging deeper into the deputy minister's past. Strana previously reported that he was a former Russian citizen who worked for a network of private drug rehabilitation centers. He continued to oversee them after moving to Ukraine.
Despite the high-profile PR campaign for these centers—supported by the Kvartal 95 team and Zelensky personally—journalists discovered that they were effectively prisons for drug addicts, where they were treated cruelly. Reports also emerged that, as deputy minister of internal affairs, Gogilashvili shielded them from human rights activists.
Gogilashvili himself is also implicated in a drug trafficking case. This is particularly telling given the growing rumors about Zelenskyy's own drug addiction.
"Strana" has collected new facts about the scandalous deputy minister.
Zelensky's apology, reaction, and dismissal
On December 11, an apology for the incident at the entrance to the Donetsk region appeared on Alexander Gogilashvili's newly created Facebook page.
"Regarding the incident at the checkpoint in the Joint Forces Operation zone in Donetsk Oblast, I certainly want to apologize for my excessive emotionality. I agree with the minister's decision to initiate disciplinary proceedings. I am preparing a report to the Minister of Internal Affairs and will do everything I can to facilitate its implementation," the official stated.
.png)
Incidentally, the deputy minister's page appeared relatively recently—on December 7. It was "liked" by another of Gogilashvili's pages, which is private and contains only a profile photo.
This photo, uploaded in 2020, depicts the ancient hero Achilles, the Trojan Horse, and the slogan: "Fear the Danaans bearing gifts."
What Gogilashvili meant by this is unclear. Although the "Trojan horse" theme will take on new meaning in the final days (more on that below).
Drugs and Zelensky: What's behind Gogilashvili's unusual closeness to the Ukrainian president?
After the deputy minister's apology, the president personally intervened in the matter and demanded Gogilashvili's dismissal.
He asked the Cabinet of Ministers to consider the deputy minister of internal affairs' resignation, stating that he had already submitted his resignation. He also stated that officials must treat police officers with civility.
The government fired Gogilashvili on Monday.
.png)
Drugs and Zelensky: What's behind Gogilashvili's unusual closeness to the Ukrainian president?
But it's telling that Zelenskyy demanded this resignation more than 24 hours after the scandal erupted, when the story had already moved beyond the video—and everyone was discussing what such a person was even doing in power.
While on December 11th, both Gogilashvili himself and Interior Minister Monastyrsky spoke only of a disciplinary investigation, by December 12th, talk of dismissal had already begun. Although, understandably, no investigation results had yet been released.
That is, the decision at Bankova was made with an eye on the scandal that began to unfold around the deputy minister's name, and most importantly, around his ties to Zelensky.
One of the components of this scandal was Gogilashvili's profile at the Ministry of Internal Affairs—drugs. In this regard, the deputy minister's past proved extremely interesting.
And it's possible that this is why they decided to quickly fire the official and thus distance themselves from the rumors that have been spreading about Zelensky since his election—that he himself uses illegal substances.
Gogilashvili's drug centers
Strana has previously reported that in Ukraine and previously in Russia, Alexander Gogilashvili worked for the Healthy Youth Center and the International Anti-Drug Association. He was responsible for public relations there.
This was before he worked at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But even then, these structures, through Gogilashvili, maintained extensive ties with Kvartal 95 and the future president personally (through his assistant, Maria Levchenko, Gogilashvili's wife).
Zelensky visited the Association even as president. And, as we can see, he appointed one of its functionaries as deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
These organizations, according to their websites, help people overcome drug and alcohol addiction, as well as gambling addiction. Naturally, for a fee.
It is known that both organizations are closely connected with the Protestant sect "Kingdom of God" (or "Kingdom of God").
But more importantly, in both Russia and Ukraine, they are suspected of abusing their charges. People are tied to chairs and beds, beaten, forced to swallow medication, and even forced to pray.
In general, it resembles prison psychiatric institutions, which, however, exist outside any legal framework. And there are dozens of such centers across Ukraine.
Also, six months ago, an investigation was published into how employees of the anti-drug centers where Gogilashvili worked were posing as police officers and kidnapping prospective patients and beginning to "treat" them.
Journalists came to one of the Association's centers and, according to the story, "ordered" a drug-addicted relative. There, they readily agreed to kidnap the man from his apartment and place him in a closed facility.
Following the revelation of this information, details emerged about Alexander Gogilashvili's role in these dubious institutions, now in his capacity as deputy minister.
Psychologist Artem Osipyan revealed interesting details about Gogilashvili's career.
With the approval of the Ombudsman's Office, he monitored prisons for torture. And in 2020, he secured the inclusion of drug rehabilitation centers, which had long been the subject of unfavorable rumors, on this list.
But when it came to visiting the centers of the International Anti-Drug Association, where Gogilashvili worked, the human rights activists were simply refused entry. The police, who responded to the call, did nothing about it.
A little later, Osipyan was suspended from monitoring altogether, and since 2021, his inspector's certificate, issued by the Ombudsman's Office, has not been renewed without explanation. Osipyan suspects the deputy minister had a hand in this.
But let's return to the connection between Gogilashvili and Zelensky. Surprisingly, Zelensky made his first (!) visit as president to one of the centers of the International Anti-Drug Association. This occurred five days after his inauguration, on May 25.
There, he spoke from the stage, where he stood next to Gogilashvili. In the video, Zelensky also expresses outrage at the law enforcement harassment of rehabilitation centers.
"Law enforcement agencies are just visiting anti-drug centers and checking things out. What are they checking? Let them be looking for bandits," the president said.
In light of what later became known about torture and abuse in these centers, the attention Zelenskyy mentioned from law enforcement agencies is understandable. That is, complaints were received from relatives or patients, and the police were expected to respond.
This only confirms that semi-criminal organizations operate under the guise of "anti-drug centers" overseen by the deputy minister of internal affairs. Zelenskyy directly supported these organizations as president, including by promoting Gogilashvili to a high-ranking position.
Incidentally, even before Zelensky became president and Oleksandr himself became deputy minister, he was implicated in a criminal case for selling methadone. Sources in the National Police told Strana this.
Strana has obtained an investigative document describing the criminal group's operations in a criminal case from February 21, 2019. Gogilashvili is listed as one of those who helped sell methadone, a drug used in substitution therapy for drug addicts.
It is prohibited for free sale in Ukraine, as it is also a narcotic.
Drugs and Zelensky: What's behind Gogilashvili's unusual closeness to the Ukrainian president?
The operational report for the same case, which has been circulating online since yesterday, states that the case was opened under Article 307, Part 2 – Drug trafficking by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. According to police intelligence, Gogilashvili assisted Kyiv resident Leonid Melnik in the drug trade.
Together, they collected drug stashes in Kyiv, which Melnik then sold from his apartment. The investigation also established that Gogilashvili himself used the drugs and, to cover up the injection marks, got a tattoo on his arm.
It also states that the "International Anti-Drug Association" is a legal front, but in reality, Gogilashvili maintains relationships with individuals who traffic drugs in the Desnyansky district of Kyiv.
The document states that, using his connections in law enforcement, he covers up the activities of drug dealers, from whom he receives methadone and money in exchange. As an "activist" close to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he reports to the police those who refuse to pay him.
Also, according to the document, Gogilashvili told police informants in September 2019 that he would soon be appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, and then they would no longer have problems with the law.
What is currently happening with this case is unclear, but given that Gogilashvili soon became deputy minister, the matter could well have been hushed up.
A Russian citizen and the search for a "mole" in the OP
On Saturday, Strana reported that Gogilashvili had arrived in Ukraine from Rostov-on-Don. Also, according to online information, he had lived in Russia for many years.
Yesterday, information began to be confirmed that the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs not only lived in the Russian Federation, but was a Russian citizen. And remains so to this day.
This is evidenced by data on the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, where one can find out whether a citizen has a Russian passport using their TIN.
Gogilashvili, who shares both his patronymic "Genrikhovich" and his date of birth, has it.
.jpg)
Media reports have already revealed that Alexander was convicted in the 90s for forging documents—promissory notes for the North Caucasus Railway. A court in Rostov-on-Don then sentenced him to five years' probation.
According to information published online, Gogilashvili received a Russian passport in 2003 and began operating drug treatment centers at that time.
He became a Ukrainian citizen in 2015, based on the fact that he had already been married to a Ukrainian citizen for two years—namely, to Zelenskyy's assistant from Kvartal 95, Maria Levchenko.
Who later became an assistant to the President of Ukraine and one of the people closest to him.
After rumors began in Ukraine about Russian citizen Gogilashvili's connections to the Presidential Office through Maria Levchenko, the story of a "mole" in the Presidential Office took a new turn. He may have leaked information about the Wagner operation abroad.
Former intelligence chief Vasily Burba previously spoke on Savik Shuster's "Freedom of Speech" about the possibility of such a "mole" being located in Bankova.
While Zelenskyy's opponents previously assumed it was either Andriy Yermak or Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Ruslan Demchenko, who oversees intelligence, they have now begun to say that Levchenko could also be the "mole."
According to Censor editor-in-chief Yuri Butusov, who published information before the Gogilashvili scandal, she attended a meeting in the Presidential Office where the decision was made to postpone the operation (which ultimately led to its cancellation).
Now, Poroshenko's supporters have begun to push the idea that Levchenko is a representative of a "Russian mole farm" on Bankova Street.
.png)
.png)
Also, following the Gogilashvili incident, photos of Maria Levchenko liking an image of Vladimir Putin began to appear online.
However, what Maria's actual connection to "Wagnergate" is unclear. Logically, foreign intelligence moles in government shouldn't behave as brazenly as Gogilashvili and tell the first police officer they meet about their "muzzle."
But it's clear that after the Gogilashvili incident, the issue of Zelenskyy's Office employees "working for Russia" will be raised with renewed vigor.
The main point, however, is the connection between the former deputy minister and drug trafficking, especially given rumors that the president himself uses drugs.
On the subject: "Green" Nepotism: How the Presidential Team's Boors Are Sinking Zelensky and Who Is Gogilashvili?
Avakov earned less than his deputies in May.
Interior Minister Avakov received a ton of bonuses and a pay raise in December.
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!