Donetsk "thug" Mykola Shchur: crime, raiding, and financing of the "DPR/LPR"

Donetsk "thug" Mykola Shchur: crime, raiding, and financing of the "DPR/LPR"

It’s hard to believe, but today in the capital of Ukraine, the "eagles" of Yanukovych’s regime are successfully operating, who during the aggression of Putin’s Russia manage to finance terrorists from the "DPR" and "LPR".

Meet him: Mykola Shchur - a native of Donetsk, who "made a career" in raiding, fraud, and semi-legal business schemes. He reached particular prosperity under President Yanukovych thanks to his criminal friends from Crimea and the Donetsk region, who helped him establish himself in Kyiv and build a system of mafia collections from capital entrepreneurs, money laundering, and its illegal withdrawal outside Ukraine.

In 2013-2014, this character was responsible for transporting and mass bringing in titushky from Crimea and eastern regions to Kyiv for the Anti-Maidan, whose task was to stage provocations, beat and intimidate protesters, and kidnap people.

Shchur demonstrated the most activity in the latter episode—kidnapping and extortion are the main specializations for which the Donetsk guy was famous among the local criminal crowd. It is known from open sources that the SSU initiated the opening of a number of criminal proceedings against Mykola Shchur and his close associate Oleksandr Brodskyi for organizing and kidnapping people who participated in protest actions on Independence Square. The most famous episode is the disappearance of EuroMaidan activists Oleksiy Hrytsenko (son of well-known politician Anatoliy Hrytsenko) and Dmytro Bulatov (who later became the Minister of Youth and Sports in the post-Maidan government). However, the criminal cases have since remained in limbo.

Even during the management of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) by Oleksandr Popov and the total reorientation of business flows to representatives of the Party of Regions, Shchur managed to consolidate one of the largest networks of kiosks in the city—people in the know say that about half of Kyiv’s underground passages and accordingly all trade are still controlled by Shchur’s people. This means millions of hryvnias in profits per day.

With the new metropolitan authorities and their "attacks" on underground trade in Kyiv, it is becoming more and more difficult for Shchur to maintain his influence. However, in private conversations with journalists, the owners of retail outlets in the underpasses say that they still receive offers on behalf of Mykola Shchur to "protect" their business. It is clear that Shchur’s titushky services are expensive and cannot do without connections with law enforcement agencies.

And the fact that the Donetsk authority has friends in uniform is evidenced by the fact that at the beginning of 2017, Shchur got away with beating a policeman right in the Obolon district police department in Kyiv, where he came to bail out his friend, detained for drunk driving.

"You’re brave, bitch? I’ll tear you apart in a second myself, you f***ing cockhead, f***ing asshole bastard. You’re a f**ker, you’ll see me again, c***er f***ing, go to hell from here, yellowbelly f***ing" - the former "activist" of Yanukovych’s regime addressed representatives of the reformed police.

It is precisely because of this incident and his marriage to Ukrainian model Snizhana Onopko that Mykola Shchur became known to the wider public. Heated by Shchur’s boorish behavior and his impunity, the media’s interest revealed that this character also distinguished himself by supporting terrorists and financing the unrecognized republics of Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Immediately after the victory of Maidan and the change of central authority, Mykola Shchur fled to Crimea and hid from law enforcers for some time. While in annexed Crimea, he supported various separatist actions in the eastern and southern regions with funds, obviously counting on the loyalty of local elites and reorientation of his business. It was reported about Shchur’s regular visits to Moscow, contacts with leaders of the "DPR/LPR".

However, over time, it became clear that from the change of power in Kyiv, Mykola Shchur got off with a slight fright. In the past, a Donetsk criminal authority, today a successful metropolitan entrepreneur, continues to control a significant share of small trade in Kyiv and hundreds of kiosks in the city’s underpasses. Part of the income still goes to Donetsk to support terrorism.

They say that after the failed attempt to attack Kyiv’s criminal authority Oleksandr Lishchenko (nicknamed "Lycha"), organized by Mykola Shchur, he was forced to go abroad. Allegedly, to Monaco. But after a few weeks or months, everything will quiet down, the media resonance will fade, and Shchur’s actions will remain unpunished.

We want to believe that law enforcement agencies, the police, and the SSU will finally pay attention to the odious "entrepreneur" from Donetsk, who directly from Kyiv finances pro-Russian bandit formations. Otherwise, there will simply be concerned activists who will sooner or later arrange a "public" trial for Mykola Shchur.