A member of the Kyiv City Council Vladyslav Trubitsyn, who was accused of corruption, was able to go abroad with the permission of the head of the State Border Service Serhiy Deineka, on the basis of a letter from the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (MDI) of the Ministry of Defense Kyrylo Budanov.
This was reported by the journalists of the "Schemes" project with reference to sources in several bodies familiar with the circumstances of Trubitsynʼs departure.
They claim that on May 13, the deputy left Ukraine in his own Mercedes S 600 through the Rava Ruska checkpoint. Since then, he has not returned, although he was supposed to be in court on May 17.
The letter from Budanov is dated January 27, 2023, the journalists indicate.
In the letter, Budanov appealed to the head of the State Border Service with a request to facilitate the "unhindered crossing of the border" for five persons, one of whom was Trubitsyn, to go on a foreign business trip from January 28 to May 25, 2023. The letter indicated the car and number on which the MP left the country.
Another person from the list is Yuriy L. There are no public references to him, but journalists found out that he used to cross the border in the same car as Trubitsyn. He also bought a car from the founder of the literary club, of which the deputy is a member.
The next person on the list is Ruslan Sh., a collector of antiques, the founder of the corresponding stores in Kyiv and Kharkiv. Like Trubitsyn, he is a former assistant to the MP Oleksandr Feldman. Ruslan explained his departure as "humanitarian aid".
Among the other men whose departure the MDI requested in the same letter, two are non-public. The men confirmed to journalists that they had an exit permit from the MDI and used it to import pickup trucks for defense purposes, and said that they did not know Trubitsyn and the other men on the list.
SAP informed "Schemes" that in order to travel abroad, Trubitsyn had to notify the court in advance of the reason for his absence, but the accused did not do so. Trubitsyn also had a procedural obligation to appear at court hearings upon the first summons, and he has already violated it twice.
Journalists found out that during 2022-2023, Vladyslav Trubitsyn, already having the status of a suspect in a criminal offense, repeatedly traveled abroad based on requests from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, in particular on November 13, 2022 and January 22, 2023.
This is reflected in the database on crossing the state border of Ukraine, sources of "Scheme" with access to this database inform.
With a request for a comment, "Schemes" turned to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense. A representative of the department Andriy Yusov noted that "he cannot comment on this information at the moment."
- Currently, Vladyslav Trubitsyn is wanted for failure to appear at court hearings in the bribery case. The deputy, who is the head of the standing committee on entrepreneurship, industry and urban development in the Kyiv City Council, is suspected of having "in collusion with five accomplices demanded and received illegal benefits" for winning tenders for the installation of mobile points of sale in the capital.
- On May 25, more than a year after the suspicion was announced, the "Servant of the People" faction decided to exclude Trubitsyn from its membership. After the suspicion, Trubitsyn only suspended his membership in the party, but at the same time remained the head of the permanent commission on entrepreneurship, industry and urban improvement.