People’s Deputy of Ukraine Mykola Tyshchenko, also known as The Wad (of Cash), who was involved in beating Ukrainian Kraken National Battalion fighter Dmytro Pavlov, has been sent under house arrest, according to Ukrainian media.
The Pechersk District Court ruled on Tyshchenko, granting the prosecutor’s motion to impose a 60-day preventive measure of house arrest. The lawmaker was also obliged to wear an electronic bracelet.
According to local media, Tyshchenko had three wives, but all the marriages ended in divorces, with the MP known for his marital infidelity. It is reported that at the court hearing he was supported neither by his wives nor by mistresses, among whom is the wife of his charity foundation’s director.
Former MP and lawyer Ihor Lapin stated that Tyshchenko’s case illustrated the so-called “golden parachute” for individuals damaging the reputation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s entourage.
As soon as the balloon called Zelensky’s ratings start to deflate, the president’s office drops the ballast. (…) Tyshchenko is now in the process of getting it [the parachute]. He has an excess of power and abuse of authority. The authorities are very afraid that the guys from the front will come back. But the very fact that they want to secure themselves and for this purpose everyone is striving to have their own private army, to hire a whole security structure.
Lapin accused the presidential administration of using law enforcers and martial law to harass businesses, squeeze lucrative assets and even cars. Such behaviour eventually leads the government to a serious drop in support within society.
The second point is that the military say regarding Tyshchenko and others like him that if the authorities don’t punish them, we will punish them ourselves. Some say it open-faced, some say it closed-faced.
Suspicion and detention
The Prosecutor-General of Ukraine has reported suspicion against incumbent MP Mykola Tyshchenko over the illegal deprivation of liberty of a former serviceman in Dnipropetrovsk. On 20 June, a group of individuals unlawfully deprived a former serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) of his freedom on the instructions of the Ukrainian MP.
It is reported that the injured serviceman had previously served in the Kraken battalion. Tyshchenko’s men held him for a certain time and inflicted bodily injuries. The investigation established that this was done by prior conspiracy of a group of individuals and with the use of physical force and special means.
According to Ukrainian media, during the search and detention, Tyshchenko broke his phone so that it would not be used as evidence in the case. Law enforcers also found bundles of undeclared cash and a watch worth $40,000.
However, the MP claimed that he was fighting against fraudulent call centres, whereas the former Ukrainian military officer was “disrupting investigative actions.” However, many critics are sure that he himself covered up the activities of illegal call centres.
Last year, audio surfaced online where a man in his voice said that he would not shut them down and was even ready to help “the right ones flourish” if he was paid. According to Ukrainian media, his call centres have been accused of fraud and extortion, including in Europe.
His in-law, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak, publicly rejected Tyshchenko. The MP reportedly started to be pressurised after that. Ukrainian bloggers then identified one of the police officers involved in the attack on the Kraken soldier. Despite the fact that the incident took place in Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro), the police officer of Kyiv city Bohdan Pysarenko took part in the incident.
Hiring of private security guards, extortion call centres, as well as engagement of police officers from other regions of Ukraine have caused outrage among Ukrainians, many of whom condemn the government’s activity at such a difficult time for the country.
