Declaration vs. reality: the elite life of a "servant of the people" family from Kherson on a "modest" salary. And all this is thanks to Yuriy Sobolevskyi.
Yuri Sobolevsky
Sobolevsky Yuri Valentinovich — First Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council and a member of the same regional council from the Servant of the People party. He has been a member of the presidential team since 2019. His current official salary as an official is 60 hryvnias per month.
Meanwhile, Sobolevsky's daughter, an assistant to a member of parliament and a student at a Kyiv university, regularly showcases her elite lifestyle on social media. Sometimes, her photos and videos feature her mother, Sobolevsky's wife, driving a luxury car that isn't included in the official's asset declaration.
Together, they vacation abroad—in France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Dubai. Neither the wife nor the daughter have official income.
At the same time, analyzing the declarations, "Schemes" noted that Sobolevsky had become richer by more than three and a half million hryvnias in one year—the official himself declared this money, mostly in the form of foreign currency, without explaining its origin.
Yuri Sobolevsky. Political Path
Yuri Sobolevsky has been part of the Zelensky team since the very beginning. He is a former lawyer.
Yuri Sobolevsky
During the 2019 elections Vladimir Zelensky appointed Sobolevsky as his representative in the Kherson region, Crimea, and Sevastopol. He also headed the election headquarters in the Kherson region.
Yuriy Sobolevsky and Vladimir Zelensky
"If anyone was following our activities, he was the leader of the 'ZeTeam,' the public 'ZeFace,' as we called it during the presidential campaign."- говорил Oleksandr Kornienko, introducing Sobolevsky as the head of the regional organization of the Servant of the People party in the Kherson region.
After Zelenskyy and his team won the election, Sobolevskyy left the Kherson region and moved to Kropyvnytskyi. He became an advisor to the then head of the Kirovohrad Regional State Administration, Andriy Balon, who common past with the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Oleg Tatarov.
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During the same period, Yuriy Sobolevskyi entered the civil service, heading a department at the Main Directorate of the State Geocadastre in the Kirovohrad Oblast. He also had his sights set on heading the entire directorate, but failed the competition.
But he didn't work long at the State Geocadastre, and in 2020 he returned to Kherson. This happened after the NABU and SAP caught for bribing the head of the Kirovograd regional state administration, Balonya, whose advisor was Sobolevsky.
In Kherson, Yuriy Sobolevskyi successfully ran for the regional council from the Servant of the People party, became a deputy, and then first deputy chairman.
It was in this position that Yuri Sobolevsky experienced the full-scale Russian invasion. Since February 24, 2022, he has been a frequent guest on air, reporting on the situation in the region.
Already during the Great War, Sobolevsky was asked in an interview about online criticism regarding the family's foreign property and the distribution of humanitarian aid:
"Regarding the villas and the million dollars, I don't own any real estate outside of Ukraine. My entire fortune is declared. And I'd add, my wife doesn't own a villa. As a local government official, I also declare her wealth in my declaration."“Sobolevsky said then.
But is this really true?
Yuri Sobolevsky: 3,5 million "out of thin air"
While analyzing Yuri Sobolevsky's declarations, Skhemy noticed certain anomalies.
In particular, in 2019—when, as a representative of presidential candidate Zelenskyy, he secured his victory in the Kherson region—he became an advisor to the chairman of the Kirovohrad Regional State Administration and headed a department at the State Geocadastre.
That year in his declaration 50 thousand dollars, 40 thousand euros and almost 1 million hryvnia appeared - and all of it in cash.
Although they weren’t there in the previous year – at least the wife didn’t list them among the family’s assets in her declaration.
Yuri Soborlevsky with his wife
She was also a civil servant, working as a senior specialist in a department of the National Commission for Financial Services. In 2018, the couple's combined savings amounted to only 230 hryvnias.
Moreover, in the same year, 2019, Sobolevsky acquired property rights to an apartment in one of Kyiv's residential complexes for over 600 hryvnias, and spent an additional 300 hryvnias, as reflected in his declaration for that period.
The Kyiv residential complex where Sobolevsky bought an apartment
Thus, in total, according to journalists' calculations, the Sobolevsky family this year, without explaining the origin of the funds, has become richer by more than three and a half million hryvnia.
Journalists asked Sobolevsky's wife and the official himself about this.
In 2018, you had 230 hryvnias in combined savings and a small salary. In 2019, your husband accumulates savings of $50, €40, and 1 million hryvnias, and he also invests in an apartment. How can you explain this? — asked the journalist from "Schemes" Elena Sobolevskaya.
“But he’s been my lawyer all his life,” she replied.
— Why didn’t you declare such a sum of funds in 2018?
"He was a decent lawyer. First of all, I'm at a loss to answer such questions. But I understand where you're going, where you're going with this. Well, because, frankly, then dig, then keep looking. I don't know what to say. And he had savings, because he worked normally almost his entire life. And, for God's sake, he didn't have any "disgraceful" things."
The official himself explained the origin of the funds as follows:
“Well, I’ve been working all my life,” answered Yuri Sobolevsky.
— But your wife reflected in her tax return your salary from the law firm where you worked. It was, let's say, not very high. (In 2018, Elena Sobolevskaya indicated about 65 thousand hryvnias - ed.). Please tell me how you managed to accumulate such a sum of money?
"Lawyers don't live solely on their salaries. And if the company allows them to take on additional clients, it's not a problem."
- Yes, but then your wife should reflect this in her declaration?
"It'll be difficult to raise every penny now. Where did each of those pennies come from?"
— Can you somehow document this?
— I think that this will also be difficult, it depends on the period over which the funds will be raised.
Premium car for my retired father-in-law
The Schemes also highlighted another point: in Sobolevsky's declarations, starting in 2022, the section on transportation contained a dash. This suggests that the official and his family should have been using public transportation or taxis from then on. But this is not the case.
A video from Yuriy Sobolevsky's daughter's Instagram account shows her and her mother heading abroad to a car with Ukrainian license plates.
This Instagram video from Yuriy Sobolevskyi's daughter, 19-year-old Anastasia Sobolevskaya, a volunteer assistant to Servant of the People MP Pavlo Pavlish, was indeed filmed not near the Ornament shopping center in Kyiv, but in another location abroad.
Sobolevsky's daughter Anastasia
In this video, you can see her mother, Olena Sobolevska, the wife of the deputy chair of the Kherson Regional Council and also an assistant to MP Bohdan Torokhtiy (elected from the Servant of the People party, later expelled from the faction, and now a member of the For the Future Party group – ed.), putting away grocery bags. This is July 2023.
Elena Sobolevskaya, assistant to MP Bohdan Torokhtiy
Journalists spotted this car several times on the official's daughter's social media accounts—in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Sometimes she was driving it, and sometimes her mother.
The diagrams were able to discern the car's license plates and identify the owner.
This is a 2020 Volkswagen Touareg. It was purchased from a dealership in December 2020 by Sobolevsky's father-in-law, Andriy Borysenko, who was already retired at the time. The car's price at the time was two million hryvnias, which was more than $70 at the time.
Sobolevsky's father-in-law, Andriy Borisenko, officially earned only 618 hryvnias from 1998 to the end of 2020, the date the car was purchased. He also received a pension starting in 2015, averaging 6 hryvnias per month. The difference between his total income and the cost of the car is almost a million hryvnias.
The fact that the official's wife, and not his retirement-age father-in-law, who wouldn't have enough official income to buy a car, uses the SUV is evident not only in the couple's daughter's Instagram posts but also, for example, in the traffic violation recording system. Yes, it was in this very car that Elena Sobolevskaya received a fine in May 2024.
In a comment to reporters, Borisenko, answering a question about the difference between the car's price and his official income, said: "I've been saving it my whole life, and my children helped too." He also confirmed that his daughter primarily uses the car.
Journalists also asked Sobolevsky about the car.
— Why don't you declare the 2020 Volkswagen Touareg that you test drove, which your wife uses? — asked the journalist.
“Because I have nothing to do with this car at all, if the issue has already reached this point,” Sobolevsky said.
- Your wife drives it all the time and it’s not on your declaration.
— As for including or not including it in the declaration, given that she sometimes uses this car, sometimes doesn't... Well, that's probably why I didn't include it. I didn't think it was essential or significant.
"Your father-in-law couldn't afford this car. We looked at his official income, and he was short by at least 1 million hryvnia. How do you explain that?"
"Listen, part of it was my wife's money. I don't remember, maybe I helped out a little. We'd previously sold our car, which my wife had. And there was a hodgepodge."
— I saw the opposite: when you sold the car, your wife’s savings increased. (We're talking about a 2017 KIA Sportage, which the family sold, according to Sobolevsky's declarations, in 2021, and the proceeds from the car's sale remained in the reports - ed.). After that, I didn’t see that these funds could go towards purchasing a Volkswagen Touareg.
“I’m not ready to say what she indicated in her declarations.
The Volkswagen Touareg led journalists to another aspect of the official's family life that he "forgot" to mention in his declaration.
Travel on Instagram
According to border crossing records, in March 2022, Sobolevsky's family—his wife, daughter, and son—traveled abroad in a Volkswagen Touareg registered to his father-in-law, who remained in Ukraine. Anastasia Sobolevskaya periodically visited Ukraine for a few days, but the family finally returned home in August 2023, in the same car. Where have they been living all this time?
The answer to this question was suggested to "Schemes" by public comments left by the official's wife in a Telegram group called "Augsburg. A Ukrainian's Question." Augsburg is one of the oldest cities in Germany.
German Augsburg
In April 2022, Sobolevskaya wrote in this group that she had been fined 40 euros. She then reported receiving the payments. She asked the group how to celebrate her son's birthday. In April 2023, she offered to donate her furniture—she would return to Ukraine in four months.
Anastasia's stories from France
During this period, photos from other countries, in addition to Germany, appear on her daughter's Instagram. In the summer, it's France, Paris, and the Alps. In the fall of 2022, it's Austria, Vienna.
Anastasia's stories from France
Anastasia Sobolevskaya is celebrating the New Year 2023 in Prague, and the New Year 2025 in Turkey.
Anastasia's stories from Prague and Istanbul
The family travels extensively, but mostly to Germany and its picturesque corners of the country.
Anastasia's Stories
At the same time, Sobolevsky’s declaration contains no mention of his family renting or using any housing abroad for free.
"If we're talking about 2022, frankly, I haven't had any time to think about it. Again, as far as I remember, they were permanent residents of Augsburg, and they changed addresses," Sobolevsky told reporters.
Yuriy Sobolevskyi, although influential in the region as deputy chairman of the regional council and a longtime member of Zelenskyy's team in the Kherson region, is still a local official, receiving a budget salary of 60 hryvnias per month. Meanwhile, his income declarations show millions of hryvnias in cash—hard currency of unknown origin. And his family, on social media, doesn't hold back in flaunting an elite lifestyle disproportionate to their official income: numerous international trips and the use of a premium car registered to his retired father-in-law.
Skelet.Org
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Klim and Pulya return to Kherson
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