After the former head of the Kyiv Metro, Viktor Brahin, and former Kyiv City Council deputy from the political party "UDAR," Vitaliy Klitschko, came under investigation by NABU, and following a journalistic investigation by Bihus Info, several managers of the capital's subway quietly left their comfortable positions.
They are close friends of Brahin, all part of his team. This is discussed in the latest episode of Bihus Info titled "The Secret Life of Kyiv Metro TOPs: Phantom Estates, Fictitious Divorces, and 'Gifts' Worth Millions."
1 Investigators uncovered that Brahin's deputy, Dmytro Peklun, was living in a house in Kozyn, although documents show that the family only owns an empty plot of land there. Meanwhile, his wife purchased a plot of land here in 2020 – 12 hundredths, with a declared value of 322 thousand hryvnias. This amount is significantly lower than the market value, according to journalists. In the report, they show how an unfinished building turned into an expensive house.
There is also mention of the luxurious "Mercedes" registered in Peklun's mother-in-law's name.
2 The investigation also covers the former financial director during Brahin's time, Oleksiy Khaymyonov, who declared real estate worth millions, but claimed it as "gifts" from relatives, and not all of them.
Journalists also revealed intriguing and mysterious turns regarding the vast wealth of the chief lawyer of the metro, Volodymyr Babenkо, and his "fantastic family idyll."
3 Recall that in March 2024, Mayor Klitschko, commenting on social media about the scandal involving his subordinate Brahin, wrote:
“From a philosophical standpoint: you can't look into everyone's soul. But when someone lies to your face while pulling rabbits out of a hat behind your back—it looks very bad. And not just in relation to me personally, but towards Kyiv residents as well.”
4 On March 20, 2024, Brahin resigned from his position at the municipal enterprise. He also relinquished his deputy mandate. The "UDAR" faction in the Kyiv City Council has yet to publicly express its outrage over the flight of the former party ally. Clearly, by then, the former subway head was preparing to flee abroad.
In July 2024, two metro officials were notified of suspicion of official negligence. Law enforcement claimed they failed to conduct an inspection of the technical condition of the metro tunnel, which led to water entering the segment between the "Demiivska" and "Lybidska" stations. Subsequently, the court imposed preventive measures on the acting head, chief engineer of KP "Kyiv Metro," Viktor Vihivskyi, and the head of the track, tunnel structures, and metro construction service, Volodymyr Sydorenko—house arrest around the clock.
In June 2024, Brahin was declared wanted as he failed to respond to a summons from the investigator. The search database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs indicates the date of disappearance as June 20, 2024. That was the last day Brahin was seen in Kyiv.
5 Kashтан NEWS reported that out of five deputy heads of the Kyiv Metro, two are millionaires, and another two purchased luxury cars in 2022 and 2023 for substantial amounts.