Vasily Astion: A Family Alliance of Corruption and Crime. Part 1
No matter how the former Dnipropetrovsk is renamed, it will in no way change its long-standing reputation as the capital of Ukrainian corruption. Intimately intertwined with business, politics, and crime, corruption has become a monster, tightly gripping the entire region in its tentacles and attempting to control the rest of Ukraine from its lair. So far, attempts to curb even a few of these ties have been virtually unsuccessful.
The case of Vasyl Astion, accused of the corporate raid on the Pectoral agricultural enterprise, exemplifies the impunity and omnipotence of corruption in Dnipro. After three years of trial, he was ultimately defeated, and the defendant, who escaped punishment, soon became involved in similar scandals. This outrageous, yet typical Dnipro ending to the "fight against corruption," surprised no one—after all, the Astion-Koshlyakov clan belongs to the local corruption "elite." It's also interesting because it arose from a long-standing friendship between the families of an Interior Ministry general and a crime boss, who decided to marry their children.
The son of a "werewolf"
Astion Vasily Nikolaevich Born on August 11, 1981, in the town of Sinelnykove (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast), the son of police lieutenant Nikolai Vasilievich Astion (born 1958). His father had just joined the police force at the time, having graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk Mining Institute the year before. Why didn't he pursue his electrical engineering degree? According to one version, Nikolai Astion was persuaded to become a police officer during the mass "draft" of university graduates and demobilized soldiers into the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Another version says his father-in-law arranged for him to join the force, promising him a cushy, well-paying job with benefits no less favorable than those in the mines.
Nikolai Astion
Nikolai Astion didn't last long as a lieutenant, but he wasn't exactly a rising star in the 80s. Media reports claim he worked in "organized crime units" from the very beginning. However, this isn't true, as the first such unit (the 6th Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) was established in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast only in 1986, and the UBOP wasn't created until 1988. According to sources, Skelet.OrgNikolai Astion only joined the regional Organized Crime Control Department in the early 90s. And with some help, he quickly made a good career for himself: by 1995, he had become deputy head of the Dnipropetrovsk Organized Crime Control Department, and in 1997, he became its head, having become friends with the new head of the regional Department of Internal Affairs, Yuriy Smirnov (the future Minister of Internal Affairs).
Over the years of working in the Dnepropetrovsk UBOP, Astion personally got to know all the local "authorities" and made several "protégés" among them.
Moreover, this wasn't just about constantly pulling them out of pretrial detention, closing cases, and "losing" evidence. In the mid-90s, a massive "crime plague" engulfed the Dnipropetrovsk region. Dozens of "authorities" and "brigadiers" were killed or blown up. After this major "cleansing," only those organized crime groups whose leaders had patrons and friends in the Ministry of Internal Affairs or government agencies remained active in the region.
Among Astion’s “criminal friends” of that time, the first to be mentioned was Sergei Oleynik (thief in law Umka), Alexander Petrovsky-Nalekreshvili, known as "Narik", and his "brigadier" Mikhail KoshlyakIt could be said that this trio survived the 90s and later became Dnipro's leading "authorities" largely thanks to Nikolai Astion! And judging by the fact that the son of the former head of the Organized Crime Control Department and the daughter of the crime boss later married, blessed by their parents, their friendship was very strong. It was said that it was Astion who convinced Koshlyak, then still young but very promising, to legalize his "brigade" under the guise of a sports club and a private security company, and then helped him peacefully gain independence from the "Narik" organized crime group. However, over time, Nalekreshvili himself became a "respected businessman," a friend of President Poroshenko and a devout "Thomas-bearer".
The Dnipro connection of crime, capital, and the church: Sergei Oleynik (Umka), Nikolai Petrovsky (Narik), Igor Kolomoisky, Archbishop Simeon (Zinkevich) of the OCU, Archpriest Viktor Lopushansky, Hegumen Isaakiy (Zinkevich)
In 2000, Yuriy Smirnov was transferred to the capital, to the post of head of the Kyiv Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He brought Mykola Astion with him, appointing him head of the Kyiv Organized Crime Control Department and promoting him to the rank of major general. A year later, Kuchma appointed Smirnov Minister of Internal Affairs, and Astion worked blissfully under his protection until the summer of 2003.
Over these three years, he was remembered only for his possible involvement in a number of high-profile contract killings—Astion seemed to have brought the "criminal plague virus" with him to the capital! Moreover, this involved the murder of not only "authorities" but also journalist Georgy Gongadze. Former Kyiv Organized Crime Control Department officer Igor Goncharov, later arrested as the ringleader ofwerewolf gangs" claimed that Kuchma asked Yuriy Kravchenko to "deal with" Gongadze, who, through Smirnov, entrusted the task to Mykola Astion, who allegedly enlisted several UBOP officers. But here's the rub: Goncharov, who had opened up, was murdered in August 2003 in a prison hospital, his death staged as a stroke. Moreover, Smirnov was removed from his post as minister at the same time, and Astion was exiled to head the UBOP in Sumy Oblast. You'll agree, this looked like a cover-up. It was not without reason that rumors claimed that the main "werewolf" in the Kyiv UBOP wasn't Goncharov, who was "appointed" as the scapegoat, but Astion.
But the story of Nikolai Astion's involvement in Gongadze's murder did not end there.
His "toxic" reputation drew sideways glances in Sumy, and immediately after the first round of the 2004 elections, Governor Volodymyr Shcherban insisted on Astion's dismissal (at the level of the Sumy Department of Internal Affairs). However, Astion found supporters in Kyiv, and a month later he was reinstated. Then, in 2005, when Yushchenko, who had become president, decided to forcefully pursue the Gongadze case, information appearedThe former head of the Moscow Department for Combating Organized Crime, Nikolai Astion, was arrested, and Alexei Pukach, who had been declared wanted and became the main defendant in the case, was also sent to jail with him. However, a retraction was soon issued, and Astion even gave a special interview in which he dismissed the accusations against him as absurd retaliation for his professional work. So Pukach was left to take the fall for everyone!
Mykola Astion, enjoying the protection of unknown patrons, continued to lead the Sumy UBOP until 2007, and then became head of the regional tax police. From 2008 to 2010, he moved to head the tax police in Zaporizhzhia, then was returned to Sumy. But that was the end of his career as a tax police officer, and in 2011, Astion again became head of the UBOP, this time in the Kherson region. However, his management was so poor, effectively slowing down the entire work of the UBOP (which had completely stopped catching bandits), that caused anger The leadership of the regional Department of Internal Affairs. Therefore, Astion soon resigned to manage his extensive business, built on the proceeds of corruption.
Vasily Astion, the "authority boss's" son-in-law
With such a father, Vasyl Astion naturally experienced neither poverty nor problems from childhood. He even nearly followed in his footsteps, graduating from the Kyiv National Academy of Internal Affairs in 2002—just when his father was in charge of the capital's Organized Crime Department and could have ensured his son's good grades and credits. However, it's unlikely that this was a family dynasty; it's simply that Vasyl Astion earned a law degree at the academy, simultaneously avoiding military service. After receiving his diploma and hanging up his uniform, he chose to pursue the family business, investing his father's money in some enterprises and "squeezing out" others with his father's help. When Nikolai Astion left the service and lost his "illegal income," corporate raiding became the main driver of their business expansion. And it truly took off after Vasyl Astion married Ekaterina Koshlyak, the daughter of Dnipropetrovsk crime boss Mykhailo Koshlyak. Who rose, as we noted above, not without the help of his father, the UBOP officer Nikolai Astion!
Mikhail Koshlyak
Mikhail Anatolyevich Koshlyak was born on February 27, 1970, in Dnepropetrovsk, where he graduated from the Chemical-Mechanical College in 1989. Even then, Koshlyak, who had practiced judo since childhood, became involved with the growing organized crime group of Alexander Nalekreshvili (Narik), which consisted of athletes. At first, they played shell games at the Ozerka market, then turned to racketeering. Narik's organized crime group "operated" very seriously: no drinking or drugs, no bullying, and they also tried to maintain good relations with the police whenever possible (according to rumors circulating around the city, Narik himself was actually a "KGB mole"). Apparently, this is what attracted Nikolai Astion, who became its curator. However, he wasn't the only one, as Nalekreshvili also actively cultivated connections in the local government (sources Skelet.Org It was claimed he reached Pavlo Lazarenko himself during his time as governor, and also contributed significantly to the Chabad Jewish community of Dnipropetrovsk, where he met some of the city's most influential and wealthy Jews. Nalekreshvili owes a great deal to Chabad, although he later feigned Orthodoxy and even became Poroshenko's "Thomas bearer." It's worth noting that Narik wasn't the only one drawn to the church: his childhood friend and fellow gangster Bohdan Gulyamov (aka Bodya) became the church's rector!
In 1991, Mikhail Koshlyak enrolled in the Institute of Physical Education, after which he became a judo coach at Children's and Youth Sports School No. 6. Not only did he train teenagers quite well (and Koshlyak is indeed a skilled judoka and coach), but he also selected new recruits for the criminal underworld from among them. Koshlyak divided these "militants" into two groups. The best and most reliable were hired as employees of the private security company "Leon," given official jobs and serious assignments—these were the professionals. The more flighty and overly spirited young men, however, were used as a semi-criminal "militia" for one-off stings—they later earned the nickname "titushki."
Thus, Koshlyak transformed from a "foreman" into the de facto "captain" of the law enforcement wing of Narik's organized crime group. During the group's transformation, Koshlyak gained independence and, heeding Astion's wise advice, avoided getting caught up in the "war of authority" and began specializing in law enforcement services, offering them to others. His main client became the Privat group, which Koshlyak contacted through Gennady Korban. Over time, the Leon private security company became known as Privat's private army.
Koshlyak's people performed a wide variety of functions for the Privat group: they reliably guarded Kolomoisky's enterprises and offices, seized other people's businesses and real estate for Korban, and participated in provocations for Boris FilatovThey are known to have participated in the war for the Ozerka market, which ended in 2006 with the murder of criminal businessman Maksim Kurochkin (Max the Mad). Another Dnipropetrovsk tradition has become inviting "Koshlyakovites" as arbitrators or guarantors in various negotiations and "showdowns," including outright gangster ones. Furthermore, long before the ATO, Leon recruited former military and Interior Ministry employees with experience handling weapons, and, even better, combat experience. Officially, such specialists became cash collectors—but who knows what other jobs they might have performed!
CONTINUED: Vasily Astion: A Family Alliance of Corruption and Crime. Part 2
Mikhail Shpolyansky, Skelet.Org
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