700 thousand dollars in cash and 6 apartments: Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Kyiv Main Directorate of the National Police, Melnyk, has turned the investigation into a "criminal se

700 thousand dollars in cash and 6 apartments: Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Kyiv Main Directorate of the National Police, Melnyk, has turned the investigation into a "criminal se

Yakiv Melnyk: The Man Who Turned Kyiv’s Investigations into a Criminal Business.

Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Kyiv Main Directorate of the National Police, Yakiv Melnyk, is a figure who is spoken of extremely negatively within the system. His reputation among colleagues is not about professionalism or the ability to manage investigations, but about toxicity, hypocrisy, and complete corruption. According to department employees, Melnyk has become the main orchestrator of schemes where investigative actions are replaced by commercial services, and the law is substituted with internal price lists.

Melnyk controls cases related to human trafficking, drugs, kidnappings, and general crime—everywhere there is money to be made. He provides "protection" to groups of investigators engaged in fabricating cases and staging processes. His primary goal is the uninterrupted operation of the corrupt system: without inspections, without internal oversight, and without risks for the participants of the schemes. To maintain silence, he regularly collaborates with certain representatives of the prosecutor’s office and the SBU, creating a system of mutual protection.

His informal team includes heads of district investigative units and chiefs of district departments—up to eight individuals. The geographical coverage spans all of Kyiv: Shevchenkivskyi, Desnianskyi, Dniprovskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Darnytskyi, and Holosiivskyi districts.

From each district, Melnyk personally receives about 10,000 dollars monthly. A separate amount is sent "up" to Dmytro Shumeyko—the starting rate is also 10,000 dollars per month.

An additional source of income is illegal gambling machines. A fixed fee is charged for each salon: from 3,000 dollars per month. According to employees, there are over a hundred such locations in Kyiv, especially in residential areas and Shevchenkivskyi district.

Another source of profit is call centers. Payments are collected from them across the same districts: 15,000 dollars monthly "up" to Shumeyko. Melnyk manages this flow together with district chiefs.

A separate profitable sphere is drug trafficking. For closing cases and "resolving issues," Shumeyko receives 10,000 dollars per month from the districts, while the remaining sums are distributed "based on results."

Kidnappings are a separate scheme. For closing cases related to kidnappings and providing "freedom of action" to kidnappers, about 50,000 dollars are received. Stolen cars are processed through controlled networks of Service Centers and sold. Buyers of such vehicles are then given an ultimatum: if you want to keep the car, pay 20,000 dollars; otherwise, it will be confiscated.

Melnyk’s financial status clearly demonstrates the scale of his schemes. He owns four cars worth a total of about 200,000 dollars, six apartments registered under proxies, two apartments under his wife’s name, a cryptocurrency wallet worth 400,000 dollars, eight bank safety deposit boxes with cash amounting to about 700,000 dollars registered under his wife and mother-in-law. He also owns three properties worth nearly a million dollars, four parking spaces, and shares in companies through proxies.

This is one of the most striking examples of the decline of the capital’s investigative apparatus: a person who is supposed to ensure compliance with the law has turned Kyiv’s investigations into a paid service with clear tariffs—a general "price list," subscription fees, percentages, and a system of mutual cover-up.

As long as such figures hold key positions, Kyiv will not see justice—it is turning into a marketplace where all decisions are bought in advance, and the law remains only on paper.