State Bureau of Investigation detains accomplices of fugitive MP Dmytruk

State Bureau of Investigation detains accomplices of fugitive MP Dmytruk

Law enforcement officers detained three criminals who helped MP Artem Dmytruk illegally leave the territory of Ukraine. The MP’s accomplices transported him across the state border to the so-called Transnistria.

The transfer operation was planned in detail and organized in advance, the State Bureau of Investigation press service reported.

According to the State Bureau of Investigation, the defendants have repeatedly come to the attention of law enforcement officers. They may be involved in the illegal transportation of citizens across the state border of Ukraine.

The State Bureau of Investigation conducted large-scale operational and investigative activities and collected a large amount of evidence. Law enforcement officers interviewed witnesses, analyzed voice and Internet connections of mobile operators, and studied the routes of movement of subscribers involved in the scheme.

As a result of painstaking work, it was established that on August 23, the people’s deputy illegally crossed the Ukrainian border in the direction of Moldova in the area of the Pavlivka checkpoint in the area of responsibility of the Velyka Komarivka border service department of the State Border Guard Service border detachment.

Law enforcement officers established that Dmytruk left Kyiv at about 13:00 in the direction of Odesa, but the car was driven by another man. Thanks to the analysis of video from surveillance cameras on the Kyiv-Odesa road, interrogation of the driver and the development of a number of operational versions, it was possible to find out that the people’s deputy got out of the car on the highway near one of the settlements of the Razdelnyanskyi district of the Odesa region.

Around 5:00 p.m., Dmytruk got into another car, driven by one of the defendants in the case, as well as the organizer of the smuggling scheme. Around 9:00 p.m., they delivered the deputy to the border, after which he illegally left Ukraine on foot.

The State Bureau of Investigation identified all the persons involved in organizing the MP’s escape, including from the Moldovan side. The investigation revealed that the organizer had extensive connections both among law enforcement officers and in criminal circles. According to operational data, this group had established a "business" of illegally transporting conscripts abroad.

The organizer and one of the defendants also disappeared in the Transnistrian section of Moldova the next day. The State Bureau of Investigation reported suspicions to three participants in the illegal transfer of persons across the state border under Part 2 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Two were charged in absentia, one defendant was detained, and the issue of choosing a preventive measure for him is being decided.