Today, as the brave defenders of the Armed Forces repel aerial attacks from the aggressors, it is clear that special military towns near Kyiv, which housed air defense units in the mid-1990s, would have been highly beneficial to them.
However, over the years, during different ministerial tenures, these military units seemed to "dissolve" – they were relocated to other regions or even disbanded, while valuable hectares of land were "divided up" under the guise of army reductions and the disposal of surplus property. Based on my own journalistic investigations, I will present the most egregious facts.
The anti-aircraft missile division – gone!
We inherited many military units from the Soviet Union that performed combat duty, particularly around the capital, ensuring air defense. The soldiers took an oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people.
These regiments and battalions occupied land near the capital, which was worth significant money. Naturally, valuable hectares caught the eye.
In the Kyiv region, one of the first military towns with substantial infrastructure near Boryspil to be disbanded was deemed… unnecessary for the anti-aircraft missile division. The land was handed over to businessmen from the company "Ledan." Documents from the early 1990s, signed by Colonel General Mykhailo Lopatyn (who commanded the Air Defense Forces from 1992 to 1995) and the general director of "Ledan," Polyakov, indicated that "Ledan" would transfer 36 apartments in Brovary to the military unit in 1991-1992...
The land was sold along with military special equipment
In another direction – Odessa – a similar "experiment" was conducted with a military unit in the village of Vita Poshtova, also near Kyiv. The local hectares were needed by opportunists.
This area housed barracks, communication and power cable lines for the military town. Military infrastructure was also developed here to carry out combat tasks for the protection of Ukraine’s airspace.
In April 2008, the General Prosecutor's Office submitted a petition to then-Minister of Defense Yuriy Yekhanurov. We quote:
“On December 28, 2005, the Ministry of Defense entered into an agreement with LLC ‘Budindustriya – Alliance Service LTD’ for the joint construction of housing on defense lands in the village of Vita Poshtova, Kyiv region. The Ministry of Defense, refusing an attractive plot of over 10 hectares near Kyiv, agreed to a compensation of 2.5 million UAH, which could buy at most three apartments in Kyiv at market prices. The fact that there is a military unit A-0799, which is on combat duty, was completely ignored…”
In 2016, the military town in Vita Poshtova came back into the spotlight as another phase of illegal land transfer from defense to third parties began.
Only later, during the investigation, did the prosecutor's office establish:
“In the village of Vita Poshtova, a scheme was organized that resulted in the removal of about 20 hectares of land from the defense territory of an active military unit of air defense, with a market value of around 200 million UAH. This plot of land is critically necessary for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, as under the land removed from state ownership are communication cable lines and antenna-mast structures that support combat duty for air defense. Their damage or destruction could cause state losses and lead to a decrease in combat readiness and defense capability. In light of this urgent issue requiring swift action, maximum efforts were directed towards restoring the defense department's rights to the military unit's land.”
In other words, it took many years for this matter to be addressed. Such is the “swift” response. The court hearing began on December 1, 2021, in the Kyiv Court of Appeal.
A pre-trial investigation was also initiated regarding the embezzlement of defense lands in the village of Vita Poshtova.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Justice annulled the decision on the state registration of land plots to private individuals in the territory of Vita Poshtova.
Who went to prison for this scheme in Vita Poshtova? No one.
The REB battalion left Koncha-Zaspa. 24 hectares "pocketed"
One particularly brazen scheme involved the sale of land from a military unit in Koncha-Zaspa. Here, on the Kyiv highway, in the forest (27th kilometer), the radio-electronic warfare battalion was located on 24 hectares. The land was sold under dubious circumstances, with the owner being a shell company "Osta-plus," which appears to have connections to certain Ukrainian millionaires. Meanwhile, the battalion was relocated to another region.
1 Here’s how it happened. According to military prosecutors, in 2005-2006, through a self-financing institution of the Ministry of Defense, buildings and structures of the military town No. 247, covering 24 hectares in Koncha-Zaspa, were illegally sold to the limited liability company "Osta-Plyus," with a market value exceeding 18 million UAH.
During my journalistic investigation, I found that in 2005, the then-Minister of Defense ordered the transfer of the main assets of this military town to the construction management (UNR-28 MO) in Yevpatoria. You see, what a clever operation – allowing a military manager from Yevpatoria to oversee the military town in Koncha-Zaspa. To fast forward, this manager turned out to be then-Colonel of the Armed Forces Igor Oleisker. During the large-scale Russian aggression, he switched sides to the occupiers and currently serves the invaders. Thus, the future traitor was involved in the destruction of the air defense base in Kyiv!
2 How did Colonel Oleisker, then head of UNR-28, carry out this scheme? In May 2006, Oleisker announced a tender on the airwaves of… Yevpatoria radio, which, of course, no one heard! Consequently, a swift and mysterious competition for the sale (barracks, buildings, storage facilities) was held. It included shell companies, one of which was owned by Oleisker's wife.
The military town's real estate was sold for 10 million UAH to the company "Osta-plus." Shortly thereafter, the notorious Chernovetskyi Kyiv City Council ensured that the 24 hectares were "broken up" into small plots for shell companies and then handed over to "Osta-plus," which appeared to serve the interests of two millionaire-banker brothers.
In 2021, the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine initiated a criminal case against officials of the Ministry of Defense. The documents include an order from the Minister of Defense of Ukraine (2005) regarding military property in Koncha-Zaspa. The investigation proceeded very sluggishly: it was halted and then resumed after some time. The prosecutor's office attempted to reclaim the hectares in Koncha-Zaspa for the Ministry of Defense through the courts but was unsuccessful. Ultimately, the investigation materials ended up on an archival shelf.
Strengthening the combat capability of the Chinese army!
Unfortunately, not only some air defense bases near Kyiv were disposed of "at auction." In 1995, the leaders of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine sold to the Chinese for $9 million 380 thousand the radio-electronic warfare complex "Pochin" (which included jamming stations for enemy aviation and command points). The Main Control and Audit Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense and the military prosecutor's office initiated an audit. The General Prosecutor's Office informed the then-President of Ukraine that “the decision to sell the ‘Pochin’ complex was made without a thorough examination of the combat readiness of the troops and without official expert and technical conclusions regarding its potential use in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” However, the then-Minister of Defense Oleksandr Kuzmuk believed that the Ukrainian-Chinese project did not diminish the combat capabilities of our radio-electronic warfare units.
By the way, it is well known that at the front today, there is a significant need for REB means. It is interesting to consider what General Kuzmuk would say today?
The investigation into this case lasted several years, but it ended with no results.
3 How could one not recall that in 2004, the then-Minister of Defense of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Kuzmuk, awarded Prime Minister Mykola Azarov a PSM pistol “for outstanding contributions to ensuring Ukraine's defense capability.” The following year, on Azarov's birthday, he was presented with a Mauser. "Successfully" worked?
4 It is entirely fair that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, by decision of the National Security and Defense Council, deprived 34 individuals of state awards, including the traitor Azarov.
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