I'm writing this 10 months after the senseless, brutal double murder in the elite village of Bogorodichnoye in the Sloviansk district of Donetsk Oblast. In peacetime, this event would have received enormous attention, but it didn't amid the ongoing war. The editor of the Donetsk newspaper "Criminal Express" and his wife were stabbed to death at their dacha. Pro-Russian colleagues of the deceased reported the incident almost with joy—journalists are being murdered in Ukrainian-controlled territory! Given the status of the victim, 47-year-old Alexander Kuchinsky, and his high-ranking connections within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the investigation was overseen. But, alas, this oversight yielded no results.
The murder was accompanied by the theft of jewelry and money, so the possibility of a professional motive wasn't even considered. Which seemed plausible to me. Until just the other day, an acquaintance of the deceased called: "We saw him (Alexander Kuchinsky) in Donetsk a week before his murder. He feared for his life because someone had gotten hold of his archives. He was planning to flee Ukraine, but he still needed to sort out some things. Perhaps get a passport or visas."
This new information compels me to share some thoughts, which in no way mean that the theory of a random murder during a robbery is completely invalid. But if the information in the archives is true, then the deceased's benefactor should be questioned in the criminal murder case. This man's name is Vladimir Stepanovich Malyshev.
The deceased considered Malyshev, a police general and MP from the Party of Regions, not only his patron but also a close friend. Alexander Kuchinsky was proud of the general's trust. This makes it difficult for me to imagine that the editor of Crime Express could have collected any information secretly or even to the detriment of Vladimir Malyshev. However, the "regional" is still seen in the "DPR" Donetsk, and the editor chose to flee. Although he always supported the Party of Regions and the "Donetsk guys," thanks to whom the slogan "Thank you, residents of Donbas," first gained popularity, and then war came to Donbas…
Malyshev was the only person who opened the door to big money for journalist Kuchinsky. And to information that could have cost him his life.
So, decide for yourself whether the theory about Vladimir Malyshev's possible involvement in the journalist's murder has any basis.
Alexander Kuchinsky and his wife, Vera, were murdered on November 27, 2014, at their dacha, a new three-story mansion. The Kuchinskys' 23-year-old son was abroad at the time. Each body had approximately 20 stab wounds. Two murder weapons—an axe and a knife—were found in the house.
According to neighbors, the couple didn't interact with anyone locally and were extremely cautious. It's unlikely an outsider could have gotten into their home without breaking in. Money and jewelry were missing. Therefore, the investigators' only theory was a self-serving one.
I met Alexander in the early 2000s. "Criminal Express" was founded as a publication by the Donetsk Regional Department of Internal Affairs, but then somehow became privately owned by Kuchinsky himself. Besides this weekly, he owned several other newspapers. They were mostly reprints and sold well on commuter trains. But that doesn't explain Alexander's income.
He was a rare example of a successful journalist who quickly rose to the rank of media mogul. But his wealth came not from newspapers, but rather from real estate. Suffice it to say that in the mid-90s, along with Crime Express, Alexander acquired a beautiful editorial office building in the very center of Donetsk on Bohdan Khmelnitsky Avenue.
Subsequently, the rent alone brought him up to $15 a month. This was, in fact, an open secret to almost everyone at Crime Express. Besides, Kuchinsky and I happened to have a mutual friend, and he himself sometimes liked to brag in my presence. The owner of Crime Express lived in a beautiful mansion in one of the most expensive areas of the city, on the shore of a pond. He admired Malyshev, but didn't consider his employees his equals, or even deserving of respect. This isn't surprising—there was a saying in Donetsk: "If you're so smart, why are you so poor?"
I met Mr. Malyshev much earlier, in the early 90s. It was just when there was a major scandal in Donetsk surrounding a drug lord's family celebration, which he threw at a lavish party at a seedy spot called "The Motel." The police and prosecutor's office, including Malyshev, were all in attendance at this party. Afterward, an article appeared in a local newspaper, titled "A Dance with Wolves." And the likes of Malyshev made their chairs tremble.
I remember the large office of the head of the Kalininsky District Police Department in Donetsk, with its small, vain man. That's how Mr. Malyshev seemed to me. The village of Stroydetal—where the drug lord reigned and the drug trade flourished—was precisely his area of responsibility. Incidentally, the famous Lux company also bordered on this same Kalininsky district. It was there, in the early bloody 90s, that Donetsk's main life raged. It was there that the first nightclub was located, where all the thugs and shop workers would come to party. And it was also the office of the notorious "Case of Everyone." Kalinovka (as they called it then) was the site of assassination attempts on Rinat Akhmetov and the liquidation of a number of other influential people.
In fact, at that time, Donetsk was in the midst of a real struggle between the cops and the thugs, which, alas, the former lost. And for the mediocre Vladimir Malyshev, the only chance to move from material stability to prosperity (that was the Party of Regions' slogan) and rise to the rank of lieutenant general was to faithfully serve not the law, but the people who wanted to bend the law.
The far from heroic Vladimir Stepanovich must have had to work hard to earn this highest favor. There was talk in those distant times of his role in the mysterious disappearance of intelligence materials on the "kings" of the criminal underworld, and of his involvement in the erasure of any mention of Viktor Fyodorovich's criminal past.
But look at his meteoric rise: 1995-1998 - Deputy Head of the Department - Head of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast, 1998-2000 - First Deputy Head of the Department - Head of the Organized Crime Control Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast, 2000-2005 - Head of the UMVD of Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast.
And then it becomes clear who this "guardian of law and order" worked for during his wildest years. Despite his lack of talent, in 2005 he was hired as Director of the Security Department at System Capital Management (SCM). From there, his career progressed.
I'll tell you one moment that stuck in my memory and has a direct connection to both Malyshev and Kuchinsky.
In 2004, during the first round of the presidential elections, when Donetsk saw an exorbitant voter turnout (something like 101%), I was fairly indifferent to politics. But I was already a bit overwhelmed by the events unfolding—or rather, the level of lawlessness. Even before the results were tallied, in this mood, with no hope of an answer, I asked Kuchinsky what to expect from these elections. And I heard something that stunned me. Something like: "We tried our best! Even the dead voted! We mobilized all our forces for victory. So there's nothing to worry about—we will win!" By "we," he meant the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, headed by Malyshev; Alexander Kuchinsky considered himself part of it. And in that election fraud, the "law enforcement agencies" were the main bet.
"When Alik Grek was facing criminal charges and we were searching for him, he calmly walked into the office of Kalininsky District Police Chief Malyshev. Vladimir Stepanovich had been on the payroll of this group since the late 80s. Then they appointed him a judge in the district, and from then on, they paid for all his appointments. So he became the head of the Donetsk Regional Department of Internal Affairs, where he immediately ordered the destruction of all archives," recalls a veteran of the Donetsk Organized Crime Control Department.
I won't recount all the events that took place in the country between 2004 and 2006, but first, the "Orange Revolution" issued the cry: "Prison for bandits," and then created the conditions for the bandits' brutal revenge. The reasons for these events can be found in the book "Donetsk Mafia," which, upon its publication in 2006, became a rarity and caused quite a stir in Donetsk.
In August 2006, Alexander Kuchinsky filed a lawsuit against Boris Penchuk, the publisher of the book "Donetsk Mafia," which landed the Party of Regions member in prison. Boris KolesnikovKuchinsky claimed he had not given permission to reprint excerpts from his 2002 book, "The Chronicle of Donetsk Banditry." And a little earlier, Kolesnikov had called "Donetsk Mafia" slander. However, here's the miracle of it all: Alexander Kuchinsky managed to profit from this alleged plagiarism while avoiding liability for slander!
Let me remind you that the book is a collection of articles by a wide variety of authors and publications, who could have had claims against the publisher, as no one asked their permission to reprint them. However, the real authors decided not to file suit.
I had both books in my possession: Kuchinsky's, which he personally gave me. And "Donetsk Mafia," which contained my article. What Kuchinsky called plagiarism pertained to the city police department's reports, which not all journalists had access to in the 90s. I remember how we begged for these dry reports in the era of paper media. So Kuchinsky claimed statistical information about the date, place, and time of the murders of Donetsk gangsters as his own, treating these statistics as his own! Even though he himself "didn't bother" with the copyrights of his own journalists when he republished articles from "Criminal Express" in book collections, selling them several times.
The Party of Regions took full advantage of this lawsuit, eager to settle scores with anyone who dared cross the influential "dons." Soon, Boris Kolesnikov, accused of extortion, was released. Meanwhile, Boris Penchuk, publisher of "Donetsk Mafia," accused of the same crime (extortion using a "slanderous" book, as the court ruled), ended up in prison instead.
When sentencing Penchuk to six years in prison, the Donetsk Court of Appeals cited the disgraceful ruling in Kuchinsky's lawsuit against the "Donetsk Mafia." In the absence of any defendants, the court ruled that Penchuk and the Anti-Corruption Foundation must pay compensation to Malyshev's well-known associate.
The particularly cynical aspect was that the Party of Regions leaders failed to essentially refute the articles incriminating Malyshev, Kolesnikov, and other representatives of the notorious "mafia." And that wasn't even their goal! Meanwhile, a friend of the Donetsk mafiosi, whose articles (or even mini-articles) were never even mentioned in "Donetsk Mafia," was awarded a staggering 250 hryvnias in damages for alleged material losses by a Donetsk court. That was equivalent to $50 at the time! Plus, 10 hryvnias in moral damages.
Unfortunately, the deceased was not at all embarrassed by this story – no one forced him to participate in the massacre... And if the absurd decision had stood in the highest court, the editor of "Criminal Express" would have been able to enrich himself on the labor of others. Meanwhile, the property of the "extortionist" Boris Penchuk should have been confiscated twice: in favor of Kuchinsky and in favor of the state.
It's clear to me that Kuchinsky's lawsuit was part of a larger plan to exact revenge for the "Donetsk Mafia," which remains the most popular book about the recent and fairly truthful history of the Donetsk region.
One of those who incited Penchuk to publish this book, Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, had long since recanted his previous statements against Kolesnikov and others by the time the publisher was jailed. Minister Lutsenko had completely stopped noticing the mafia in the glorious city of Donetsk. And he literally began kissing not only Kolesnikov (who turned away in disgust, which, I confess, pleased me), but also other Donetsk boys. Those whom the "Orange" populist minister had threatened with prison during the Orange Maidan.
But let's return to Vladimir Malyshev. He also managed to win a lawsuit in 2006 in the Kalininsky District Court of Donetsk, where he had worked for a time and had corrupt ties. Moreover, in an inquisitorial spirit, the court also ordered the destruction of the entire print run of "Donetsk Mafia," published by the Kyiv-based publishing house "Polygraphkniga."
Malyshev, like Viktor Shokin, recently described on ORD as a Freemason, is a Knight of the Masonic Order of St. Stanislav. He is also the co-author of the books "History of the Donetsk Militia," "Anatomy of Evil," and "Career of a Victim," written by Kuchinsky and the "literary ghostwriters." For this, he received membership in the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU). And for his loyalty to the Donetsk mafia, he was awarded the Order of Merit, 3rd Class.
Although, from the point of view of the "Donetsk mafia", Vladimir Stepanovich is a secondary character, let us still remember how the destroyed book personally irritated him.
Just one episode: "A few years ago, a colleague told me he'd seen a folder with his own eyes, titled none other than 'Personal File of Rinat Leonidovich Akhmetov,' and it had been shown to him by General Vladimir Malyshev, the former head of the Donetsk Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Naturally, the general didn't hand the folder over to my colleague, showing only a few curious pages written in a "calligraphic" police handwriting. My colleague had seen several operational reports in which Akhmetov was identified as the leader of a criminal group. Attached to the reports was a character reference calling this individual "an especially dangerous criminal, prone to acts of extreme cruelty." General Malyshev slammed the folder shut and, caressing it lovingly, tucked it back into the safe. From a poster on the wall, the president of the Shakhtar football club peered at him, squinting slightly, seemingly watching the general's every move. Malyshev poured my interlocutor a cognac, winking at the safe—as if to say, "Look at the material we have, we're working with, you see." Vladimir Malyshev became head of the Donetsk regional police precisely thanks to Rinat Leonidovich's patronage. This momentous event for the Donetsk police was preceded by an equally significant, but tragic, story, which led to Malyshev's appointment. On the day that Shakhtar, under Akhmetov's control, played its Champions League debut against Lazio, Shakhtar goalkeeper Yuriy Virt was celebrating his birthday. According to unofficial sources, after the match, several players from Akhmetov's football team decided to have some fun by jumping into the birthday boy's Mercedes. The football players, wildly celebrating a friend's birthday and the loss of a crucial match, raced through the central streets of Donetsk like a hurricane. Ultimately, a Mercedes struck a woman with a prominent banking position on Pushkin Boulevard. The accident was quickly solved, and the woman hit by the football players was in critical condition, teetering on the brink of life and death. Police went straight to the Shakhtar FC training ground to handcuff the athletes, who, as Akhmetov said, were like his own children. Rumor has it, the police were never allowed into the training ground. Rinat Leonidovich settled the matter, satisfying all the complaints. And soon after these events, Vladimir Stepanovich Malyshev, who had known Akhmetov since the time when Rinat Leonidovich was just beginning his studies in the harsh universities of Ukrainian capitalism, and Vladimir Stepanovich himself worked as an operative in the department for combating organized crime of the Donetsk Regional Department of Internal Affairs, took the chair of the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Donetsk region.
In the story of police officer Vladimir Malyshev's career and political success, the final line (for now) is this: "On January 16, 2014, UDAR MP Maria Ionova was hit on the head. UDAR accuses Party of Regions MP Vladimir Malyshev of beating Ionova." The closest portrait of the former MP to today's date remains (for now) a photo with a broken forehead, as the general himself was also beaten during the controversial vote.
Where is Malyshev now, and has he been questioned in connection with the murder of Alexander Kuchinsky, with whom he had a very close relationship? Is he being prosecuted, for example, for that same scandalous show of hands in the Verkhovna Rada on January 16? It seems there was some kind of investigation into Malyshev, but it's either been dormant forever or is in a lethargic slumber.
Alexander Kuchinsky could have told a lot about Malyshev, as well as about other characters in Boris Penchuk's scandalous publication. And Malyshev probably still harbors a wealth of disturbing memories, valuable to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office. Again, I find it hard to imagine Alexander Kuchinsky digging into Malyshev, but the latter was seen in Donetsk quite recently, and Alexander Kuchinsky believed it was unhealthy for him to be in that city. After all, perhaps his high-ranking friend didn't destroy all the files containing his "personal files."
That's all the testimony I can give in the case of the murder of journalist Alexander Kuchinsky and his wife.
Tatyana Zarovnaya, for ORD
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