Zaitsev, Donskoy, Zadnipryany, Lodochnikov, Bozhilo, Voichenko, Slobodjanik—the names of these prosecutors are little known to the general public; they prefer to remain out of the media. Working within the system, these investigators meticulously ensure that their social media accounts don't provide any food for thought to their enemies (not even a photo). They don't communicate with each other, and they don't serve under the same leader, yet there's one secret that unites them all. That secret is the execution of political orders, cases in which the investigators are willing to dig up the ground, spitting on the law and objectivity.
They all know the workings of the Ukrainian justice system intimately, having at one time or another, sometimes quite by accident, been assigned the "job of a lifetime" to investigate high-profile charges against high-ranking officials and VIP politicians. A political contract, in investigators' jargon, is akin to "Russian roulette": a rush of adrenaline, high profits (gratitude, material benefits, and sometimes even popularity), closeness to superiors, and promises of rosy prospects for advancement. But there's also the harsh Ukrainian reality, a kind of flip side of the coin: when a change of power or the arrival of a "new broom," every prosecutor (like the judge handing down the verdict) faces a 99% risk of being denounced, thrown out, branded a regime stooge, or given a real prison sentence.
After all, every government has an abundance of enemies, and therefore high-profile cases. True, results are few, and criminal investigations in Ukraine are steadily turning into a staged, entertaining spectacle, with everyone performing their own function. The government feigns work and boosts its ratings, while the courts and prosecutors carry out its wishes, thereby securing their own bread and butter. And then comes the most unexpected: yesterday's VIP enemies become friends, and prosecutors... The latter, after being used (as the unspoken instructions for rubber product #2 state), are either consigned to the dustbin of history or "used" for a while longer, but without any guarantees or insurance—after all, they're still on the hook for the abyss.
Matter: life or death?
Want to know how this is done? Ask Alexey Donskoy, who is currently handling the "Sadovnik case." Or better yet, keep an eye on the changes in the life of Solomensky District Prosecutor Andrey Zaitsev. He's the same Zaitsev who became famous during the revolution for demanding a two-month jail sentence for a father of two who was transporting tires for activists. Today, he's walking a tightrope—his fate is still being investigated, and his future is uncertain.
Andrei Zaitsev
And what a career prospect his patrons had envisioned for Zaitsev...
Or study the story of prosecutor Volodymyr Zadnipriany, who, at the height of the revolutionary events, clashed with Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv's Shevchenko District Court. According to Poroshenko, the prosecutor lacked evidence against the Euromaidan activists, and in front of cameras, the then-MP demanded that the detainees be released on his own recognizance. But the prosecutor chose to act according to the letter of the law and "sent" the future president away, demanding that he paper with an embossed seal statement on the parliamentarian's official bank account.
The video was posted online, and the predictable public outrage inspired yet another MP, now Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko, to write a personal letter to Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitsky, asking him to "remove" this foolish prosecutor from the prosecutor's office. Especially since Zadnipriany's "credit history" had already been tarnished by the posting of photos of him vacationing with his wife, as well as the attribution of "Stalinism" and other "Colorado" escapades to him. And finally, a kindly, quiet word was spoken about how the prosecutor had bailed out Serhiy Demishkan, the son of Party of Regions MP Volodymyr Demishkan, accused of a brutal murder. And what had previously earned the prosecutor new accolades suddenly became the height of corruption and the execution of a criminal order...
As a result, Zadnipriany was suspended for a time, but later changed his mind and, already "hooked," was reinstated. Today, he continues to work in the Kyiv prosecutor's office, although he is no longer trusted with "political" cases. The "black mark" on him has never been removed... Consider him a lost cause, as Papanov's character in "Beware of the Car" says—he lives on his salary alone.
The flywheel has been launched by the new government
In late August, the state prosecution, represented by the Prosecutor General's Office (GPU), filed a motion with the court seeking the urgent arrest of its former employee, Serhiy Voichenko, who previously headed the investigative team tasked with exposing the fraudulent activities of Yuriy Lutsenko. Naturally, now in a much more favorable position, Lutsenko, with the help of his former lawyer and now Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Bagants, secured the Pechersky Court's approval of the GPU's motion.
The Prosecutor General's Office decided to arrest Voichenko because, according to their information, the former investigator intended to abscond. Even though, since the criminal investigation into Lutsenko's unlawful arrest began in May, Voichenko had been attending interrogations at the Prosecutor General's Office, "like children at school." The current investigators couldn't find anything better to do than cite the exact same wording under which Lutsenko was arrested. In other words, in their desire to take revenge on their tormentors and the servants of the "regime," the "new" Lutsenko didn't go into great detail.
This prompted investigator Voichenko to share with us shocking facts about the "Lutsenko case," revealing that he is, in fact, no patriot and that the "Yanukovych regime" had legally opened the case against him. After these "turns of events," he didn't hesitate to call the former Interior Minister a "petty fellow" who, back in 2010, had promised revenge on the prosecutor...
...this story will continue, but Voichenko knows full well he's been betrayed. So he turned to law and politics, apparently believing publicity would provide additional protection. While the election campaign is underway, he's not being actively targeted, but what happens next—only the leader of the presidential bloc knows...
A set-up among one's own: it's so new
Investigator Dmitry Lodochnikov is equally anxiously awaiting the results of the election race and the upcoming personnel changes within the Prosecutor General's Office. The upheavals that are unfolding in his career would someday make a good film script. But for now, he's not looking for fame, as he came into the system as a protégé of Viktor Pshonka's deputy, Renat Kuzmin (Read more about it in the article Renat Kuzmin: The Family Business of Outlaw Prosecutors), this Odessa native, at 34, has already "changed masters" three times. From Kuzmin-Lodochnikov, he defected to the "prosecutor's organized crime group of Kalifitsky," but after Yanukovych's overthrow, he swore allegiance to the new regime and, having betrayed his former patron, received his first assignment in his new field.
Thus, Lodochnikov, who had already betrayed twice, was given the mission of exposing former Revenue and Duties Minister Oleksandr Klimenko. Intoxicated by the high level of trust placed in him by the "political order," the investigator blatantly screwed up when, together with Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Bagants, he orchestrated a robbery at the Graf jewelry store under the guise of a search, which the entire country witnessed.
Today, of the four direct participants in the "robbery of the century"—the "werewolves in uniform" Lodochnikov, Kozlov, Zabuga, and Vasilenko—ironically, only Kozlov will face prosecution, having already been saddled with a litany of cases. Lodochnikov, the tipster, despite his sordid reputation, remained with the Prosecutor General's Office (GPU) (but will he stay there if rumors of Vitaly Yarema's imminent departure to the Ministry of Internal Affairs prove true?). However, Klimenko's case, under his "gilded hands," has fallen apart: according to the Prosecutor's Truth, the department is beginning to "split up" the proceedings against him because the evidence for previously imputed cases has proven null and void, and all legal investigation deadlines have long since expired. At the same time, due to the loss of trust, Lodochnikov was assigned a new supervisor: an equally odious investigator, Igor Slobodjanik (and earlier they had even considered arranging a bribe for him and throwing him in a pre-trial detention center).
The latter has already become famous:
— the absurd story with his story to the media that the “golden loaf” found in Mezhyhirya was given to Yanukovych by Vladimir Lukyanenko, president of the M.V. Frunze Scientific Production Association Sumy (Prosecutor General Vitaly Yarema later called this utter nonsense);
— an attempt to “cleanse” Mezhyhirya from the prying eyes of police investigators and journalists in the first days after the change of power – de facto prosecutors tried to hide from prying eyes secret documents showing the connection between Yanukovych and the former opposition;
— suspended the investigation into police charges against the Kharkiv mayor, effectively demonstrating that prosecutorial investigators are willing to take the side of one of the parties in the Avakov-Kernes conflict for a small bribe.
What do you think these two men will organize together? And who will be the target of their complaints when they're finally caught and sold for the sake of big politics? After all, the talk about Klymenko, Kurchenko, Portnov, Arbuzov, and their ilk actively negotiating at the highest levels for their return to Ukraine didn't just come out of nowhere. What are the prospects for the investigators and prosecutors handling their cases? Grim, to put it mildly. That same prosecutor, Zadnipryany, didn't even think—he had no idea last winter—that he was snapping at the future president... Then he repented for a long time, but it was all in vain...
Repent, and you will be happy!
One can both gloat and sincerely regret the fate of those judges and prosecutors who make decisions that don't suit their own agenda. The point is that the prosecutors and investigators themselves, as well as the judges themselves, understand perfectly well that as soon as the "winds of change" blow, they will try to jump on this bandwagon. But not everyone will be carried along by this train...
Based on this, the Prosecutor's Truth is interested in:
Do today's high-profile investigators understand that they face dire karma for pandering to new bosses rather than the law, and are willing to bend to the system by carrying out outright orders?
How likely are criminal cases to be objectively investigated if our law enforcement agencies are always full of people willing to undermine each other, protect themselves from the authorities, or simply make a buck? Are there any decent prosecutors and judges left in the country after all the "regimes"?
Where will today's prosecutors and judges go after the next regime change? After all, Rodion Kireyev also thought he'd work long and productively in Ukraine, but look what happened...
Prosecutor's Truth
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