Poltava City Council Member Accused of Criminal Activity
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), the National Police, and the Prosecutor General's Office have uncovered new evidence of illegal activity by Oleksandr Kalutskyi, a deputy of the Poltava City Council. He is charged with concealing assets of unknown origin worth over 340 million hryvnias (approximately $8.3 million) and illicit enrichment.
According to the investigation, between 2022 and 2025, Kalutskyi used proxy individuals to transfer funds to his own cryptocurrency wallets. These transactions were not reflected in his official declarations or tax reports. In October 2025, the deputy was exposed for falsifying his income declarations by failing to report cryptocurrency holdings and virtual asset transactions worth 200 million hryvnias.
Formal Suspicion and Potential Consequences
The investigation has formally notified Kalutskyi of suspicion under Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal enrichment). The suspect faces up to 10 years of imprisonment. The Security Service of Ukraine stated:
“Based on new evidence of the individual's illegal activity, he has been notified of suspicion under Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal enrichment). The offender faces up to 10 years of imprisonment.”
It was also established that since the start of the full-scale war, Kalutskyi likely systematically transferred large sums of cash to controlled exchange points for conversion into cryptocurrency. In early 2024, the deputy purchased 32 different types of cryptocurrency, with total investments exceeding 33.3 million hryvnias. As of October 20, Kalutskyi may have retained holdings worth 13.749 million hryvnias.
This case highlights ongoing challenges with financial transparency among Ukrainian officials during wartime. In the broader context, during the first six months of 2025, Ukrainian officials submitted over 706,000 declarations, a 34% decrease compared to the same period in 2024. Every eighth declaration was later amended, and every third declaration that was inspected contained signs of intentional submission of false data, falling under Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code. The total volume of false information exceeded 5.8 billion hryvnias, averaging approximately 13.6 million hryvnias per declaration.
Thus, the issues of illicit enrichment and false declaration remain a significant problem in Ukraine, as illustrated by the case of Oleksandr Kalutskyi. The uncovered facts point to serious systemic shortcomings in monitoring the financial assets of public officials, necessitating further analysis and potential reform of the income and asset declaration system. Amid war and economic instability, the importance of transparency and accountability remains a priority for Ukraine's state institutions.
This case is not isolated, as it reflects broader issues regarding financial transparency among public officials in Ukraine. Recently, a report revealed that over 50 deputies have come under suspicion for declaring more than 2 billion hryvnias in income within just one year. Such patterns raise concerns about the integrity of the financial disclosures made by those in power.