Who is Nikolai Galushko, who behaves like Gogilashvili?
A video of Servant of the People MP Mykola Galushko surfaced online today. In the video, a year old, he was stopped by police for a traffic violation, and he swore at the accusations and threatened the officers. The details of this scandal, its protagonist, and the consequences were investigated. Vesti.ua.
Nikolai Galushko: I am a deputy, and my mother’s car
Around 4 a.m. on December 18, 2020, a white Toyota Land Cruiser crossed a double lane in central Kyiv, flagrantly violating traffic regulations. Servant of the People MP Mykola Oleksandrovych Golushko arrived to "assist" the driver. He is a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement and a graduate of the National Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was elected to parliament through the 97th single-member constituency (Kyiv Oblast).
In a video published just now, he believes that the police have no right to inspect the car and insults the patrol officers with obscene language.
"Are you an idiot? Are you mentally ill? This is the car of a Ukrainian MP, how can you inspect it?" says Nikolai Galushko.
According to Galushko's asset declaration, the car belongs to his mother, Marina. She bought the SUV after her son's first year as a member of parliament and now apparently lets him drive it.
Who is Nikolai Galushko, who behaves like Gogilashvili?
Lawyer Alexander Ivanchenko, commenting on the incident to Vesti.ua, said it doesn't matter whose car it is—the MP's or his mother's.
"Patrol officers have every right to stop a vehicle that has violated traffic rules. It doesn't matter whether a deputy, mayor, or peer is behind the wheel, or who's in the passenger seat. An administrative report is filed, sent to the court at the location where the accident occurred, and the court prosecutes the driver for the violation," he said.
Servants of the People: We apologize, it was blackmail.
The Servant of the People faction was the first to respond to the video, an hour later. The statement stated that SN condemns such actions and considers Galushko's behavior in dealing with police officers unacceptable for any citizen, especially a member of parliament. "The faction apologizes to the police officers and anyone who may have been offended by this situation."
According to a statement from Servant of the People press secretary Yulia Paliychuk, no one is hinting at Galushko's expulsion from the faction. They only promised that "the ethics committee will determine the punishment."
The statement also claims that Galushko himself allegedly knew about the video's existence because then-Interior Minister Arsen Avakov used it to blackmail him, threatening to post it online if the deputy refused to support his initiatives in parliament. The video's publication is linked to Galushko's vote to remove Avakov on July 15. Furthermore, the date of the camera recording (December 18, 2020) coincides with the current period of the year, so it can be considered a recent incident.
Nikolai Galushko: Everything's fine. There was no blackmail.
However, the faction's statement doesn't match the MP's own comment. He says there was no blackmail from the former Interior Minister. An apology was issued back in 2020, and the matter is completely settled. Galushko doesn't know why the video was leaked now or who is behind it, but "someone is definitely interested":
"There was and is no pressure on me. This incident happened a year ago. The guys apologized to me for their misconduct, and I apologized for my rude remarks. This issue was completely resolved a year ago. Why is it being blown up now? I don't know, but someone must be interested."
He made no excuses for the traffic violation in 2020 and claimed the police officers who stopped him were wrong. He insists there was no basis for the stop and that the police officers were definitely "morons."
This is just the beginning. There's more to come.
Political scientist Andrey Zolotarev told Vesti.ua that the video story was known in narrow circles, and that this was only the beginning.
"It's no secret that some insiders knew something like this had happened. I think there will be more. This leak isn't accidental, because a year ago, the situation was relatively stable and calm, and now an information war has begun. It will be protracted. The information blitzkrieg against Zelenskyy has failed. They'll throw out everything they have in reserve—and there are plenty of them. They've identified a weak spot. They realized that Zelenskyy can be downgraded through his team. And they're doing it successfully. According to focus group studies, it's precisely the team that's Zelenskyy's problem. I think the Gogilashvili case will also continue, because it involves a multi-step information scheme," he said.
Political scientist Alexander Lazarev recalled other high-profile incidents involving "servants" and former faction members in recent times.
In July 2021, former "Servant of the People" Oleksandr Yurchenko caused a traffic accident in Lviv by reversing out of a parking space and striking another car. Instead of apologizing and compensating for the damage, Yurchenko assaulted the driver and attempted to flee the scene.
That same month, patrol police stopped a car driven by Yevhen Brahar, a Servant of the People MP. Law enforcement suspected the politician was driving under the influence of drugs. After tests showed the MP was sober and sane, the National Police reprimanded the patrol officers who stopped the MP's car, and their superior, a company commander, was demoted.
In August, a traffic accident involving Servant of the People MP Oleksandr Trukhin occurred on the Boryspil highway. Media reports initially claimed he was the culprit and the driver of the car. However, news reports about the accident and Trukhin's involvement were later edited, and the MP's name was removed.
"Unfortunately, this trend has been going on for a long time in the Servant of the People party. (…) They tell us outright that we're all third-class citizens, while they're gods above. They're people's deputies, they have a mandate, and they couldn't care less about the law, the police, or moral standards. This suggests that the people in power now are random, unfit for their positions, and have been thrust into their hands by power. They behave accordingly. (…) The governing system should be more complex than the one being governed. In this case, that's not the case," Oleksandr Lazarev tells a Vesti.ua correspondent.
According to another political scientist, Volodymyr Fesenko, the main thing in this story is not the traffic violation itself and the MP's reaction, but the fact that this video is most likely from the media library of former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, so he should expect retaliation.
"This incident itself is nothing new. It happened under the current 'Servant of the People,' and under Yanukovych, and under Yushchenko. It's just that before 2014, this wasn't discussed or accepted. But now it's normal. There's been significant progress—the police are no longer afraid of such MPs and deputy ministers; they can post everything online. (…) The main thing here is that this video is most likely a 'greeting' from Arsen Borysovych Avakov to the current government. From a political standpoint, there will be 'greetings' in return, so Arsen Borysovych needs to prepare," the expert says.
There is money, money is not a problem
Six months ago, Mykola Galushko, a Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Servant of the People faction featured in the controversial video, purchased a 2012 BMW K1600GTL motorcycle for 60 hryvnias. Although his asset declaration states the purchase was for a passenger car, this particular BMW model is actually a motorcycle.
On the same day, he received 298,150 hryvnias from the alienation of movable property (except securities and corporate rights) and later another 60 thousand hryvnias.
His 2020 tax return indicates he owns a 2007 Lexus LS460, purchased for UAH 298,150, and is temporarily using a 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser, purchased by his mother in November 2020 for UAH 2,4 million.
In early December, a similar incident occurred with former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Alexander Gogilashvili. He was dismissed from his position after an incident at the entrance to Kramatorsk, where his car was stopped by police officers. When asked to produce his documents, the deputy minister was outraged that the officer didn't recognize him, began threatening him, and tugged at his sleeve. We'll likely learn the consequences of Nikolai Galushko's actions in 2022.
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