From operator to general with millions: how the fortunes of the head of the Zaporizhzhya police Artem Kysko have changed

From operator to general with millions: how the fortunes of the head of the Zaporizhzhya police Artem Kysko have changed

Artem Kysko – a native of Zaporizhzhya, a participant in the battles for Debaltseve, and the head of the Zaporizhzhya police during the full-scale invasion. How the wealth of the policeman and his family has changed since 2015.

Since September 2022, the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zaporizhzhya region has been headed by Artem Kysko. The police general is a native of Zaporizhzhya, although he spent most of his career in law enforcement working in the police force in Donetsk region. In particular, he worked for a long time in the now-occupied city of Donetsk.

After the start of Russian aggression in Donbas in 2014, Kysko took part in combat operations as part of the "Typhoon" unit. During the battles for Debaltseve, he was wounded. He has received state awards – the Order of Courage III degree and the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky III degree.

The current head of the Zaporizhzhya police wrote a book about the participation of law enforcement officers in combat operations in Donbas titled "Noncombatants," and also holds a Candidate of Legal Sciences degree.

Kysko has been working in law enforcement since 2001, so his declarations have been publicly available since 2016, when they began to be published by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP).

Modest wealth and savings

Artem Kysko submitted his first declaration as the head of the Criminal Police of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Donetsk region. The official did not declare any personal ownership of real estate or movable property, but his wife owned an apartment and a 2011 Hyundai Tucson car. Kysko reported that in 2015, he received a salary totaling 285,000 hryvnias. His wife’s income was not listed in the declaration. No savings were reported.

The next notable changes in wealth appear in the declaration for 2018, when Artem Kysko held the position of deputy head of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Donetsk region. It includes information about his wife’s real estate. Specifically, it mentions ownership of another apartment and a land plot in Donetsk (since 2016), a land plot in Manhush, Donetsk region (since 2018). Additionally, Kysko, his wife, and two sons are listed as co-owners of an apartment in Mariupol (since 2018).

The law enforcement officer received a salary of 372,000 hryvnias and kept 115,000 hryvnias in cash.

Millions in family income and property in temporarily occupied territories

Currently, the latest declaration Artem Kysko submitted was for 2024 as the head of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zaporizhzhya region. Regarding real estate from previous declarations, his wife retained ownership of two apartments and a land plot in Donetsk, as well as land in Pokrovsk. Additionally, the policeman’s family retained ownership of an apartment in Mariupol.

Added to this is the ownership by Kysko’s wife of two land plots in Urzuf, Donetsk region (since 2019). The declaration also mentions the right of use by the wife and children of the police chief of an apartment in Kyiv region.

Artem Kysko declared the use of a room in departmental police housing in Zaporizhzhya. Additionally, the head of police reported co-ownership of an apartment in Donetsk and two land plots in the village of Romanivka, Donetsk region.

The wife of the police chief has owned a 2019 Toyota Highlander since 2021. Kysko himself did not declare any vehicles in his ownership.

Kysko’s annual salary at the regional police amounted to 1.5 million hryvnias, and from part-time work at the Ministry of Internal Affairs University – 83,000 hryvnias. The head of the National Police received 7,000 hryvnias in social payments.

Kysko’s wife earned an income of 4.9 million hryvnias from entrepreneurial activities, as well as 10,000 hryvnias in payments as an internally displaced person (IDP).

Kysko declared savings of 10,000 USD in cash and 207,000 hryvnias in a bank account. The official’s wife kept 30,000 USD and over 2 million hryvnias in cash, as well as 5,000 hryvnias in bank accounts.