Behind the scandalous Telegram channel "Trukha" are the "ears" of ex-minister Avakov

Behind the scandalous Telegram channel "Trukha" are the "ears" of ex-minister Avakov

The channel is controlled by Volodymyr Lytvyn – a figure in the high-profile criminal case about backpacks.

Journalists discovered that the Telegram channel "Trukha Ukraine" might be connected to a friend of the son of Arsen Avakov. The former minister denies any connection with "Trukha." This is reported by "Ukrainska Pravda" based on a joint investigation by NGL.media and Grunt projects.

According to the investigation, the Telegram channel was created in November 2019. The founder, Kharkiv resident Maksym Lavrynenko, claims that the money to promote the new TG channel was given to him by friends in the IT industry.

Maksym Lavrynenko

According to Lavrynenko, in just over two years, the channel grew its audience to 190,000, which was the number of subscribers the channel had at the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

At that time, "Truha" often published photos and videos of missile strikes, which led to criticism, but also an increase in its audience.

According to Lavrinenko, he was repeatedly approached by SBU employees and military officials who asked him not to publish certain information.

In 2022, Maksym Lavrynenko began being presented as the founder and owner of "Trukha," and "Trukha" started publishing messages on his behalf.

However, since 2019, there had been media reports that the channel was sponsored by a local businessman Volodymyr Lytvyn – the founder of the business promotion company Turboseo and a friend of the son of former Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov.

The media also collected publications mentioning Arsen Avakov, which ceased in February 2023.

"... a significant number of ’Truha’ publications about Arsen Avakov, in which he is portrayed as an expert and philanthropist, - says the investigation. - These were both excerpts from interviews with Avakov and separate reports about him or reposts from his Telegram channel." However, since February 2023, Arsen Avakov is no longer mentioned on "Trukha."

According to journalists, Lytvyn became known after the corruption case involving "Avakov’s backpacks." In 2018, he took the blame in a criminal case involving the embezzlement of 16 million UAH by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the procurement of backpacks.

In this case, Lytvyn appeared alongside Oleksandr Avakov – but the conditional punishment was imposed only on him.

"In the Kharkiv media environment, it is said that during Arsen Avakov’s ministerial term, ’Trukha’ had access to police videos, and this exclusivity helped the channel grow its audience," the authors of the investigation noted.