Ex-Parliamentarian Faces Charges for Land Grab
The Prosecutor General's Office has announced that a 55-year-old former Ukrainian MP from the 6th and 8th convocations is under suspicion for illegally seizing protected land and constructing a building in the Dnipro River's coastal zone. Sources identify the suspect as Oleksandr Suprunenko, who also previously served as a Kyiv city council deputy. This case highlights ongoing challenges in Ukraine regarding the illegal privatization of public natural resources.
Investigators found that Suprunenko owns a 0.1-hectare plot in Kyiv's Dnipro district. He then unlawfully occupied adjacent communal land within the river's protective coastal strip. Without any permits, he fenced off approximately 0.3 hectares of land, blocking public access to the water. Furthermore, he illegally constructed a single-story house covering 103 square meters. These actions occurred within the legally protected 100-meter coastal zone, where all construction and fencing is explicitly prohibited by law.
Legal Repercussions and Unrelated Corruption Scheme Uncovered
The suspect's actions have been classified under specific articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. The prosecution is now deciding on measures to demolish the illegal structures and return the land to the Kyiv community. In a separate, unrelated case, the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Bureau of Investigations have exposed a corruption scheme in defense procurement related to the supply of faulty mines and the misappropriation of advance payments.
- A private company entered into five state contracts with the Defense Ministry's Department of Military-Technical Policy, the Defense Procurement Agency, and the Armed Forces Logistics Command.
- The total value of these contracts exceeds 10 billion hryvnias.
- The agreements stipulated the delivery of over 360,000 sets of various types of mines.
These developments underscore the critical importance of monitoring land use and enforcing legal compliance in Ukraine, particularly for the protection of sensitive natural areas. The Suprunenko case could set a significant precedent for future investigations into environmental violations. Simultaneously, the exposure of the defense procurement scheme points to the urgent need for stricter oversight of state financial flows, a matter of heightened priority during wartime.