Evgeniy Deidey – a “fake” hero
Kyiv has been rocked by scandals related to ATO participants recently. The latest is the trial of Tornado fighters who tortured prisoners. This isn't the first time people have been arrested for standing up for the country when it needed them. Recall the trial of one of the Aidar leaders, Valentyn Likholit, nicknamed "Batya." He is accused of robbery, extortion, and armed robbery. There's also the trial of fighters from the Dnipro-1 Battalion, who were accused of kidnapping and murder, among other things.
So, are they heroes or criminals? In principle, the two are not in conflict. Let's examine this phenomenon using the example of one of the most successful volunteer battalion commanders, in terms of social standing and financial status. We'll talk about the coordinator of the Kyiv-1 Battalion, MP Yevhen Serhiyovych Deydey. And the occasion is fitting: not long ago, he announced the creation of the Patriot Liberation Headquarters—an organization that will literally fight back against the courts and the police for ATO participants.
Papa Deydey
Deidey Evgeny Sergeevich A native of Odessa, he was born on July 12, 1987. But his family owes its fortune to the small town of Reni on the Romanian border. There, his father, Serhiy Deidey, became the head of the Our Ukraine campaign during the peak of Viktor Yushchenko's political career. At that time, the entire elite of the district center suddenly sided with the "orange" party, including the mayor, Yevhen Matsipudra, and the head of the district state administration, Andriy Bulgarov. The future MP's father easily converted this political success into financial prosperity for his family, becoming a member of the local city council and chairman of the commission on public utilities and privatization. A lucrative position, even for a provincial town. And together with the aforementioned mayor and head of administration, Serhiy Deidey began plundering state property.
The city's service plant, dairy plant, and bakery fell within their sphere of interest.
But a certain local judge, Anatoly Zaikin, got in the way. It's unlikely he was simply an honest human rights activist, more likely simply defending the interests of the opposing side. Regardless, the matter ended with Deydey Sr. beating the judge in a restaurant in front of a crowd. Afterward, even his patrons were forced to publicly condemn his actions. However, the head of the local administration, Andrei Bulgarov, asked the public not to take the men's conversation in the restaurant personally, implying that it wasn't a clash of business interests, but simply a drunken brawl. In any case, Sergei Deydey could no longer personally participate in the dispute with the judge. But he hadn't raised his son for nothing.
Evgeniy Deidey – a “fake” hero
Evgeny Deidey. Sonny Gets Involved
Back then, Yevhen Deidey was nothing more than a simple rich kid living off his dad's money. It was this money, in fact, that he went to defend, bringing along his brother, Dmitry Deidey. The young men showed up at the judge's home and introduced themselves as Sergey Deidey's children. Perhaps they were so confident in their impunity, or perhaps they were still young and foolish... However, you can't just threaten a man whose work often brings him into contact with cops and law enforcement. The judge called the police, and the situation took a serious turn. Yevhen Sergeyevich was forced to leave the town of Reni and move to Odessa. Criminal cases were opened against his father for embezzling state property by understating its value. Soon, the Party of Regions came to power, and the "orange" faction became even more desperate. Many thieves and corrupt officials then declared themselves victims of the regime, persecuted for their political beliefs. And Deidei Sr. did the same, although, we repeat, the charges against him were brought solely under “economic” articles.
Evgeniy Deidey – a “fake” hero
Odessa Mama
Finding himself in Odessa, Yevhen Deydey, like many young men without a specific occupation or special talents, joined the police. A higher education, acquired in an unclear manner or place, saved him from working in the patrol service, and he became an investigator at the Suvorovsky District Department of Internal Affairs in Odessa. Speaking of education, his biography modestly states that he is a "journalist" by education, while another states that he is a "political scientist" and even completed postgraduate study. How did he manage to do that, if at 27 he was already a member of parliament? Apparently, an investigator's salary wasn't enough to support the lifestyle he was accustomed to. His father also had problems and couldn't afford to give him much money. So, Deydey decided to make money the easiest way possible – through robbery. Cops often engage in robberies; they have all the prerequisites for it – knowledge of the wealthy contingent in their area, physical fitness, confidence in their impunity, and a lack of conscience. In short, Deidei and his comrades committed several robberies, but were caught. The Suvorov Court of Odessa convicted them of robbery committed by a group of individuals acting in concert. However, the young men were not jailed and were even retained in the police force. Apparently, even in this capacity, they could have been useful to their superiors.
Evgeniy Deidey – a “fake” hero
Hero of Maidan
As we recall, Deidei Sr. considered himself a victim of the Yanukovych regime. It's therefore unsurprising that the Deidei family supported the Euromaidan in 2013. Yevhen Sergeyevich found himself on the Kyiv Maidan. He was, as we understand from the above, quite a combative man, and his specialized skills came in handy. In short, he became the commander of the Seventh Hundred of Self-Defense. This unit was involved in several scandals. According to some reports, in February 2014, it was this unit that broke into the Junker clothing store on Khreshchatyk. Self-Defense leaders were forced to intervene to stop the outright looting. The Seventh Hundred also played a role in the events in Odesa. Its fighters arrived in the city on March 5, 2014, and took an active part in the events of May 2, which ended with a fire in the Trade Union Building and the deaths of 48 people. The investigation into the events in Odessa is still ongoing, and until it is completed, we cannot give an objective assessment of either the events of those days or Yevhen Sergeyevich's participation in them. However, facts are stubborn things: he was in Odessa during those days and took part in the events; all the above-mentioned incidents occurred with the participation of the Odessa police (a proven fact); Yevhen Deidei is a police officer; there is no information that he left the force at that time. Moreover, the police are on the side of the anti-Maidan supporters, and Deidei is on the side of the Euromaidan supporters. And clashes are occurring between the two Maidans, which until then had coexisted almost peacefully. But I would like to emphasize once again that this is mere speculation. Just as the statement by People's Deputy Svetlana Fabrikant (p) can also be called speculation.Read more about it in the article Svetlana Fabrikant: What Odesa residents should remember about the Odesa mayoral candidate) that the conclusions that 500 Euromaidan participants, “with the assistance of the Chairman of the Odessa Regional State Administration, V.L. Nemirovsky, were brought to Odessa from the Kyiv Maidan and placed at checkpoints,” were removed from the report of the Special Commission of the Verkhovna Rada.
Euromaidan organizer Andriy Parubiy is in the center, Yevhen Deidey is on the far right.
Read more about it in the article Andriy Parubiy: What the former Maidan commandant and head of the National Security and Defense Council concealed
Evgeniy Deidey, ATO Hero
Following the aforementioned events, Yevhen Deidey became the coordinator of the Kyiv-1 Battalion. And the battalion was sent... if you think it was to the ATO zone, you're very much mistaken. The battalion was sent to Odessa, to defend it from separatist sentiment. In July 2014, the battalion began patrolling Kyiv. Specifically, they participated in the dismantling of the Euromaidan tent city, which refused to disperse until all officials were purged, and they participated quite harshly. Several people were beaten, and they were later declared Russian provocateurs. It was only in July 2014, after Girkin-Strelkov had seized Slavyanka, the events in Mariupol, Volnovakha, and the first attack on the Donetsk Airport, that some of the Kyiv-1 Battalion's fighters advanced to eastern Ukraine. But was Deidey among these heroes? That's a question no one can answer definitively.
He claims he was there. But most of the combatants at the time don't remember him. Perhaps they missed him in the chaos? Although, some recall that he appeared in liberated Slavyansk sometime around July 5th. True, he arrived there not in an armored personnel carrier, as befits a liberator, but in a luxury Infinity SUV. He posed for a photo and departed for an unknown destination. But the photo then went viral on social media, and everyone realized: here he is, the true hero, Yevgeny Deidey. Perhaps for this, on August 2nd of that year, he received the Order "For Courage."
Popular Front
The Kyiv-1 Battalion continued its uneventful service in the ATO zone. At least, its fighters didn't make much of a mark at Debaltseve, Ilovaisk, or the defense of the Donetsk Aviation Plant. But October 2014 arrived, and it was time for Yevhen Deydey to leave his comrades-in-arms to transfer to another assignment. It's worth noting that his comrades-in-arms were distinguished—including Arsen Avkov's son (Read more about it in the article Arsen Avakov: The criminal past of the Minister of Internal Affairs), Alexander Avakov and millionaire Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky (Read more about it in the article Vyacheslav and Alexander Konstantinovsky: How the "Russian mafia" became "Ukrainian patriots"). However, the latter turned out to be Deidei's colleague in the Verkhovna Rada, where Yevhen Sergeyevich was elected on the People's Front list, the party of the aforementioned Arsen Avakov, which is also perhaps a coincidence. No one heard anything else about Yevhen Deidei's exploits in the ATO zone. However, he accomplished many "heroic deeds" in other fields.
Political exploits
On December 11, 2015, BPP MP Oleh Barna attempted to remove then-Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk from the podium. Maksym Burbak (Read more about it in the article Maksym Burbak: How Chernivtsi residents sat on Donetsk's "golden toilet") and Yevgeny Deydey. They held Barna, and another of their fellow party members, Andriy Ivanchuk, beat up a people's deputy (Read more about it in the article Andriy Ivanchuk, a friend of Yatsenyuk and a lobbyist for Kolomoisky's interests). This took place live on the Rada TV channel.
Business achievements
There were several other violent conflicts involving Deydey or the Kyiv-1 Battalion under his control. The most recent was a dispute with Maksym Grishchuk, Deputy Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. This occurred near the Solomensky Court, after a hearing at which Serhiy Pereloma, the former chairman of the supervisory board of the Odessa Port Plant, was arrested for 60 days. Deydey sided with the detainee. So, it's unlikely he was genuinely interested in the fate of the top manager of the Odessa Port Plant; more likely, he was simply fulfilling orders from David Zhvania and Mykola Martynenko, Pereloma's longtime business partners. Members of his battalion accompanied Deydey to the court, and he told Prosecutor Grishchuk that while Pereloma was sitting in the rear, he and these guys were taking over Slavyansk. The most interesting thing here is that Maksym Hryshchuk, unlike the fake soldier Deidei, is a genuine ATO hero, a cyborg. He served in the 80th Airmobile Brigade and defended the Donetsk Airport from December 2014 to January 2015. Yevhen Sergeyevich later apologized for being overly emotional, but naturally, he didn't publicly admit his guilt. However, he didn't frighten Hryshchuk; the case against Serhiy Pereloma continues. He has many interests in the Odesa region, and the MP is fighting against those who poke their noses into it. For example, he was one of the signatories of a letter against David Sakvaleridze, who was overly interested in Odesa at the request of his fellow countryman, Mikheil Saakashvili. And there are reasons for that.
Evgeny Deidey. The King of the New Titushki
Serhiy Deidey's business is based on the violent support of protests by his fellow Odesa residents, or various politicians close to Arseniy Yatsenyuk. He maintains close ties with Mykola Martynenko (Read more about it in the article Nikolai Martynenko: Why is the "nuclear oligarch" being so actively dumped?), Sergey Kivalov (Read more about it Sergey Kivalov, the Godfather of Corruption and Justice) and Arsen Avakov. Fighters from the Kyiv-1 Battalion are participating in these violent actions. And here, Yevhen Deidey also has the "merit" of his own: he essentially turned the National Guard battalion, which, albeit not very actively, participated in the ATO, into a gang of legalized "titushki" (bourgeois thugs) who participate in corporate raids. These "titushki" may be well-armed, trained, and protected by the law. He is behind the blocking of Ukrgazvybobuvannya (Ukrainian Gas and Oil Company) in favor of its work with shell companies owned by Mykola Martynenko. He is also behind the corporate raid on the Odesa Port Plant, when 150 fighters from the Kyiv-1 Battalion stormed the enterprise in balkalavy. He provided forceful support during the raider seizure of the Lybid Hotel in KyivThe most interesting thing here is that the takeover was carried out in the interests of Russian oligarchs. It was nothing personal—it was business. Deidei's men blocked the Odessa-Kyiv highway, protesting the appointment of Mykola Stoyanov as regional prosecutor. But in reality, the protest was aimed against Governor Saakashvili and in favor of Sergei Kivalov, whom the restless Georgian had under his thumb. But this isn't Yevgeny Deidei's only business.
Alexander Dubovoy also doesn't hesitate to use his services; you can read more about him in the article. Oleksandr Dubovoy, Turchynov's associate and professional corporate raider.
Peaceful business
If you need a parliamentary appeal or a vote on a law, you should contact Yevhen Deidey or Irina Suslova. They churn out 7-8 of these appeals a day! He even gets paid for the issues he can raise in the Verkhovna Rada. For example, Vitaliy Yarema (Read more about it in the article Vitaly Yarema, "Honest Cop" and Sergei Dumchev's godfather). Who was the Prosecutor General at the time.
All of the above, apparently, brings in a considerable income. During his time as a people's deputy, he purchased two luxury Audi Q7s, apparently one for himself and one for his wife, but both are registered in his wife's name. Furthermore, in his income declaration, which every civil servant is required to file, he listed 2,6 million hryvnias under the section on family members' income as his wife's "other income," even though her income in 2013 was zero. Furthermore, Yevhen Sergeyevich owns shares in his father's businesses, Einheit and the clothing manufacturer TDN. 
Despite becoming a member of parliament, owning a stake in a business, driving luxury cars, and even receiving state awards, Yevgeny Deydey remains essentially the same petty thug and robber he was when he came to Judge Zaikin in his native Reni. The entire story of his short life demonstrates that his psychology hasn't changed. It's simply terrifying that such people have risen to the highest levels of power in the country.
Denis Ivanov, for skelet.org
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