The companies of Viktor Medvedchukʼs wife, Oksana Marchenko, financed the Russian Guard and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on February 7.
Oksana Marchenko is the ultimate owner of a network of Kyiv companies and an enterprise in Yalta, which transferred millions of sums to the accounts of the Russian Guard and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in occupied Crimea. These companies paid the Russians to "protect Medvedchukʼs real estate" on the territory of the peninsula.
In addition, Marchenkoʼs business structure regularly replenished the Russian budget in the form of taxes and fees. The total amount of payments in favor of Russia is more than 50 million in hryvnia equivalent.
To implement the scheme, Oksana Marchenko registered a company in Yalta with a charter capital of more than 1 billion Russian rubles, and for its creation, she attracted the assets of three investment companies located in Kyiv. Then the Crimean firm signed the corresponding security agreements with the structures of the Russian Guard and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
The SBU conducted 11 searches at the real estate properties of Medvedchukʼs wife, the offices of her Kyiv companies, and the residences of their top managers. On the basis of the collected evidence, the investigators informed Oksana Marchenko and the head of the firm in Crimea about the suspicion under Part 3 of Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Currently, the issue of reporting suspicion to the heads of three Kyiv companies involved in the scheme is being resolved. They face up to 8 years in prison.
- Oksana Marchenko is a former TV presenter, the wife of Putinʼs godfather Viktor Medvedchuk, who is suspected of treason (he was extradited by the Russians during a prisoner exchange ). The couple owns a business in Crimea, which appeared there already after the Russian annexation, Marchenko has a construction company in Russia, fuel from its other Russian plant was used to refuel tanks in "L/DPR".
- On February 19, 2021, Ukraine imposed sanctions against Medvedchuk and Marchenko due to their financing of terrorism.