The SBU detained the daughter of the ex-mayor of Poltava, who worked for the “election headquarters” of Putinʼs party

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained the 36-year-old daughter of the former mayor of Poltava in Kyiv — she is suspected of cooperating with Russia during the Russian elections in 2022 and 2023. Her father is now convicted of corruption.

This was reported by the SBU.

According to the investigation, the suspect owns an advertising agency in St. Petersburg, Russia, which participated in the PR campaign of the pro-Putin United Russia party. The SBU claims that on the eve of the vote, the woman used hundreds of advertising stands and billboards of her company to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda.

While living in Kyiv, the suspect remotely managed an advertising business in Russia and received millions in dividends from it. According to the investigation, during the period of cooperation with the "election headquarters" of the Russian party, the woman received more than 35 million Russian rubles, which is almost 16 million hryvnias.

During searches of the suspectʼs residence and Kyiv offices, they found computer equipment, mobile phones, and financial reports on cooperation with the Russian Federation. She was suspected of collaborationism — she faces up to 12 years in prison. In addition, according to the SBU, all of her property was seized for more than 270 million hryvnias — these are three apartments in Kyiv, a minivan and shares in the authorized capital of two Ukrainian companies.

Although the SBU does not name the suspect, it follows from the details of the case that it is about Natalia Veretenikova, the daughter of the former mayor of Poltava Oleksandr Mamai. On March 2, 2023, the court sentenced Mamai to a suspended sentence: 5 years in prison with a one-year probationary period. He was suspected of misappropriation and embezzlement of property and abuse of official position. In 2020, Oleksandr Mamai hired two women without higher education who actually cleaned his house as urban planners at the City Development Institute.

• Oleksandr Mamai first became the mayor of Poltava in 2010. Then 61.6% of voters voted for him. In 2012, Mamai joined the Party of Regions, but left it in 2014 — after ex-president Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine. In 2015, Mamai was re-elected mayor of Poltava. In 2018, the city council voted for his resignation, accusing him of violating the Constitution. In November 2020, Mamai was re-elected mayor of the city.
• On December 29, 2022, Oleksandr Mamai was informed of the suspicion of disclosing information about the placement of positions of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. The sanction of the article provides imprisonment for up to 12 years.
• Back in 2021, the mayor of Poltava Oleksandr Mamai was added to the database of the "Myrotvorets" website for his statements on the air of the "NASH" TV channel. At the time, he said that "two superpowers are fighting" in Donbas — the USA and Russia, and in the military conflict itself "brother goes against brother".