The "Schemes" investigative project found out that the ex-leader of the "Party of Regions" faction in the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) former MP Oleksandr Yefremov fled from Ukraine to Moscow after the start of a full-scale war.
Before Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the ex-MP traveled to Russia four times through the "Bachivsk" checkpoint in the Sumy region — in August and November 2020, as well as in October 2021. Yefremov last left for the Russian Federation on February 4, 2022 and returned to Ukraine on February 19.
On March 18, 2022, Yefremov fled Ukraine by rail through the "Chop" checkpoint on the border with Slovakia and has not yet returned.
Currently, it is registered in the residential complex "Triumph Palace", located at the address Moscow, Chapaevskyi lane, 3. The apartment belongs to the son of the ex-MP Ihor Yefremov. The two-story apartment is located on the 26th and 27th floors, with a total area of 466.5 square meters. m and is estimated to cost $2.8 million.
Another place of residence of the ex-leader of the "Party of Regions" faction, which was found in the medical documents, is also an apartment in the "Triumph Palace", only on the 11th floor. The total area is 191.8 square meters. Its value is about $1.2 million.
СХЕМИ / Радіо свобода
Yefremov has a Russian individual tax number and an insurance number, which allows him to receive a pension in the Russian Federation. In the database of the Russian Pension and Social Insurance Fund, Yefremovʼs work experience is indicated even during the times of the USSR.
СХЕМИ / Радіо свобода
СХЕМИ / Радіо свобода
Journalists called the ex-leader of the "Party of Regions" faction, but he refused to talk.
What was Yefremov tried for?
At the end of July 2014, the General Prosecutorʼs Office (PGO) started proceedings against Yefremov for abuse of power. He forced the management of the state enterprise "Luhanskvuhillya" to enter into a contract for the installation of mining equipment with his companies.
Later, PGO closed another proceeding against Yefremov, which was started on suspicion of inciting inter-ethnic enmity. On July 30, 2016, Yefremov was detained on suspicion of encroaching on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The ex-head of the faction of the "Party of Regions" tried to fly to Vienna (Austria).
On August 1, 2016, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv arrested the ex-leader of the "Party of Regions" faction for two months, and later the Court of Appeal recognized the legal arrest and left it valid. Yefremovʼs case was considered this time by the Starobilsky district court of the Luhansk region.
- On July 22, 2019, the Court of Appeal in Kyiv released Oleksandr Yefremov from custody. He was sentenced to 24-hour house arrest with the wearing of an electronic bracelet for 60 days.
- The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office informed "Schemes" that Oleksandr Yefremov is under the status of accused under a number of articles, but does not have a preventive measure. He was not declared wanted. The Prosecutorʼs Office also added that court hearings in the case were not scheduled, "which is probably due to the temporary occupation of Starobilsk." The cases of the Starobilsky court must now be considered by the Sinelnykivsky city-district court of the Dnipropetrovsk region.