Vladimir Didukh: Vova Morda's Criminal Services Bureau. Part 1
Among the "clients" of his sinister business were Prime Minister Tymoshenko, future presidents Yushchenko and Poroshenko, and dozens of other high-ranking politicians and officials. This apparently was the key to the incredible resilience of Volodymyr Didukh, one of the last Lviv "authorities" of the 90s who has successfully established himself in modern Ukraine. Today, he pretends to have long since retired from criminal activity, even claiming he never engaged in it and has always been an honest businessman. But it's hard to hide an awl in a sack, especially when it's dripping with the blood of dozens of victims.
His name (or rather, nickname) first rang out across the country in 2005, at an extended meeting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs board attended by the new President Yushchenko. "Who is this Morda that's making everyone in Lviv cry? That's the nickname of one of the thugs. How many divisions do we need to give you to eliminate this Morda?" Yushchenko shouted with feigned anger, demanding that the generals eliminate all Ukrainian organized crime groups by January 1, 2006. The leader of the first Maidan either didn't know or had forgotten that the nickname "Vova Morda" masqueraded as a Lviv "authority figure" who financed "pro-Ukrainian" political forces and, with his tough guys, guarded the stage of the "Orange Revolution" from a possible attack by equally tough guys from organized crime groups in Kharkiv and the Donbas.
Didukh then resurfaced in late 2014, when he granted an interview to Express. Perhaps he was haunted by his reputation as former "mafioso" Leonid Roytman, who had given several truly sensational, revealing interviews about the criminal pasts of a number of Ukrainian politicians and oligarchs—from Leonid Kuchma and Yulia Tymoshenko to Roytman's former "accomplices." Konstantinovsky brothersBut, unlike the talkative Roytman, Didukh then only leaked to Express some compromising information about one of the leaders of the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" Igor Krivetsky, but he refused to speak honestly about his own past. "In the early 90s, I went to Moscow, where I earned my first million dollars," was all he said. Well, perhaps the virtual entrepreneur Vladimir Didukh did go to Moscow to do business—after all, he'd have to explain the origins of his capital somehow! However, the real-life Lviv "brother," Vova Morda, spent the 90s in his homeland, engaged not in business but in extortion and bloody conflicts. Discussing this, of course, would be highly inadvisable, especially for a sponsor of Ukraine's main nationalist party and a defender of the first Maidan.
Vladimir Didukh. A Shoemaker with "Authority"
Didukh Volodymyr Stepanovych was born on January 29, 1967, in the village of Ryasne (Ryasne), which became a suburb of the expanding Lviv in the 80s, to an ordinary, poor family. After completing eight years of school, without any particular talent, he enrolled in a vocational school, studying shoemaking—the same school where future railway oligarchs studied. Dubnevich brothersAs we can see, the Lviv region is rich in outstanding shoemakers!
Vladimir Didukh categorically refused to mend worn-out boots or glue heels onto slippers. He dreamed of big, easy money, but he had no means of earning it through semi-legal commerce or embezzlement (which is how many "cooperators," like the Dubnevichs, made their fortune in the 80s). Instead, he was fascinated by the idea of brutally extorting this money from others—not through robbery, but through extortion. Didukh had seen the example of the first criminal "brigades" that collected tribute from cooperators, and, as he later admitted, his favorite book had always been "The Godfather."
Vladimir Didukh
Contrary to the rumors about his alleged business in Moscow, Didukh was involved in racketeering in his home country in the early 90s. Indeed, it's unlikely that a million-dollar owner, unless he were Shura Balaganov, would have spent his time extorting a few thousand from entrepreneurs in the town of Pustomyty. It was there, in 1994, that Didukh was arrested by local police officers. However, he didn't even have time to sniff the toilet—the criminal case was quickly closed, and he was released (under Article 7 of the Criminal Procedure Code "due to a change in circumstances"). But this wasn't because his buddies intimidated witnesses or bribed the cops. According to sources, Skelet.OrgThe reason for his release was his agreement to cooperate with the authorities—and it was allegedly from that moment that Vladimir Didukh became their eyes and ears (and hands) in Lviv's organized crime group. However, rumor has it that Didukh became a mole much earlier, perhaps as early as the late 80s. In any case, this explains the "luck" that subsequently followed Vova Morda: despite being repeatedly arrested on charges of very serious crimes (extortion and murder), he never received a single full sentence, getting off with, at most, a suspended sentence. And back then, in 1994, he was lucky enough not to become a victim of the criminal reorganization of Lviv following the murder of the city's top "authority," Orest Zavinsky, known by the nickname "Zavinya."
Back then, his name was whispered by ordinary people, but worldly fame quickly faded: in the spring of 2017, scrap metal hunters plundered Zavinsky's grave, sawing off parts of the tombstone. Interestingly, Zavinya was the first of Lviv's criminal "authorities" to take notice of the eccentric party. Oleg Tyagnibok (Then it was still called the Social-Nationalist Party) and decided to invest in this project. And not only invest, but also assign his people to it: thus, Tyahnybok was joined by Petro Kolodiy, the future head of the Lviv Regional Council—who in the early 90s had been Zavinsky's personal chauffeur and bodyguard.
But, returning to Vova Morda, another curious fact can be unearthed in his past, also connected to the authorities. Specifically, the media reported that in that same year, 1994, after being released, Vladimir Didukh and his criminal buddy, Taras Chura, went to Moscow. Didukh, however, didn't stay long and quickly returned, while Chura allegedly underwent months of training at a special operations center of either the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Federal Security Service (the then-known FSB) of the Russian Federation. It was a specific training: it was reported that, upon returning from Moscow, Chura immediately organized a group specializing in espionage and assassination. This group became the main combat wing of the organized crime group led by Alexander Pstyga (nicknamed "Ptenchik"), whose assistant since 1995 included Vladimir Didukh, who had recommended Chura to him. Ptyga-Ptyga quickly realized the potential of such a "special forces" unit and even purchased surveillance equipment and special weapons for it. Nothing like this had been seen in Lviv's criminal underworld since the days of the OUN Security Service! And Ptyga-Ptyga became one of Lviv's most feared and brutal "authorities" of the 90s, especially after his rivals began dying one after another. And not in typical showdowns.
In 1996, Roma Glukhoy (a racketeer and drug dealer) was blown up in his jeep. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, his killers sold him a shipment of weapons, including grenades—which had a small "surprise" attached. It was reported as an accident, with Chechens allegedly selling the weapons. However, this "accident" appeared to be very professionally executed (along with the unusual grenade that triggered the explosion, there were also several kilograms of explosives in the car). In 1997, a professional killer calmly approached Vasily Tymchuk (Vasya Khimik) as he sat at a table in the Tustan Hotel and calmly shot him in the head, after which he just as calmly walked outside and got into his car. Rumors began circulating in Lviv that some secret organization of law enforcement officers was killing "authorities," and there were whispers of a "White Arrow" (some claimed it was the "Black Arrow"). However, the scythe of death soon fell upon Ptenchik, too.
It is curious that at that time Pstyga’s wife was the scandalous Lesya Sofienko, the future wife of Vladimir Pekhov, deputy minister of agricultural policy Nikolai PrisyazhnyukBetween 2012 and 2014, this trio became infamous for their brazen corporate raids! But already in the 90s, Sofienko had a dark reputation as a woman who, in her quest to get her hands on something, would stop at nothing—even murder. And not just competitors or particularly uncooperative victims: sources reported that, ultimately, she decided to get rid of her latest husband.
Lesya Sofienko and Vladimir Pekhov
And so, on July 3, 1998, Alexander Pstyga was murdered in the "Eastern Kitchen" café. He was killed with extreme precision: the bullet barely grazed the arm of his driver and bodyguard, Mykhailo Milyan (nicknamed "Hedgehog"), who was standing next to him. Milyan was said to be another friend of Didukh, and after Ptenchik's death, he immediately became the personal chauffeur of Vova Morda, the new Lviv "authority figure" who shared Alexander Pstyga's inheritance with his wife. And Vova Morda's authority began to grow as other Lviv organized crime leaders were killed.
Vladimir Didukh - Everyone needs Vova Morda!
Pstyga's death merely added fuel to the inferno of criminal showdowns engulfing Lviv. It seems someone decided to use it as a pretext to eliminate other "authorities," supposedly out of revenge. They killed everyone: the paralyzed Roman Shchadila was shot dead in a wheelchair (December 1998). Grib, the holder of the Lviv "obshchak" (common fund) (a generally untouchable figure), was gunned down near his home. The real carnage took place in the bloody year of 2000: Bazila was killed, along with the criminal "authority" Vova Sukhumsky (Volodymyr Zinchenko), and Artur Kozmin was gunned down at home at the table, along with his elderly mother and five of his men. Then a wave of murders swept across the region: the leaders of the Stryi organized crime group (Oleg Leniv), Drohobych, and Boryslav were assassinated. In just three years, 14 leaders of large and small organized crime groups met their end prematurely—not counting their closest aides and the countless number of gunned-down "bulls." This "genocide of crime bosses" culminated in the 2001 murder of Igor Miloslavsky (nicknamed Mukha), considered the region's most respected and influential criminal leader, a second Zavinya.
As a result, the last major "authority" in Lviv, Nikolai Lozinsky (Kolya Rokiro), remained in charge, while the most combat-ready organized crime group was led by Vladimir Didukh. Moreover, according to Didukh himself, Rokiro was his godfather (he did not specify who baptized whose children), and this connection in Ukrainian criminal circles (as in Ukrainian politics) is no less strong than Sicilian "godfathership." But most importantly, until 2007 (when Lozinsky was killed), a long-lasting peace reigned in Lviv's criminal community—well, if you don't count the assassination attempt on Didukh himself in the summer of 2004, which remains unsolved and quite mysterious.
Only a blind man or a "werewolf in uniform" could deny the involvement of Didukh's organized crime group in these events. It's no surprise that as early as 2000, Vova Morda was named a suspect in the murder of Artur Kozmin, who had made numerous accusations against Didukh before his death. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mikhail Kornienko himself handled the case, holding a press conference where he showed photos of Didukh's organized crime group members. They were put on a wanted list, and their details were sent through the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), but nothing came of it. One day, Vova Morda himself showed up at the prosecutor's office, and after a lengthy conversation, the subject of which remained unknown, he calmly went home. What happened? Unknown "handlers" in uniform? They weren't the only ones!
At the height of the "Lviv massacre," Didukh's men were seen in Vinnytsia. And right around that time, an assassination attempt was made on the regional governor, Dmytro Dvorkis, who miraculously survived (he and his bodyguard were wounded, and his driver was killed). Many law enforcement officials believed it was "Morda's handiwork," but they had no direct evidence. But most interestingly, the answer to the question "Who benefits from this?" was repeatedly brought up by Poroshenko—who had a very strained relationship with Dvorkis and was constantly undermining him. Coincidence? However, a few years later, Didukh would resurface as... one of the deputy's assistants. Petro Poroshenko ! Also a coincidence?
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Vladimir Didukh: Vova Morda's Criminal Services Bureau. Part 2
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