A panel of judges of the Fifth Administrative Court of Appeal reinstated Mykola Kucheravy to the position of head of the personnel department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kherson Oblast, who had been dismissed over alleged participation in a scheme to sell driver’s licenses.
The relevant court ruling was published on the Unified State Register of Court Decisions website.
Mykola Kucheravy was removed from the position of head of the personnel department of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Kherson after it became known that he was allegedly connected with the organization of a corruption scheme in the issuance of driver’s licenses.
The scheme involved helping people obtain services from the Ministry of Internal Affairs service centers in Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts: regional top officials, their relatives and acquaintances were assisted in obtaining driver’s licenses for money. The cost of such services depended on the complexity and averaged 20,000 UAH per person.
The scheme was uncovered last summer. At that time, five people were notified of suspicions under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – the head of one of the State Emergency Service (DSNS) units in Kherson Oblast, an employee of a driving school, an official of a territorial service center, and two law enforcement officers, one of whom was Mykola Kucheravy.
According to the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR), within the criminal group Kucheravy performed functions not as a policeman but as a “advisor” to the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin. However, he was never his advisor, but was assigned to the RMA to guard Prokudin.
Later the suspicion was changed from Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (receiving undue benefit) to Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code (abuse of influence). And this automatically means that he was dismissed under an article of the Criminal Code under which he is no longer being suspected.
In addition, as Mykola Kucheravy’s lawyer told MOST, the main reason for the dismissal was precisely the suspicion of receiving an undue benefit. There were also several derivative grounds which, according to the lawyer, were fabricated. In particular, it concerns the claim that Kucheravy allegedly received assistance as an internally displaced person (IDP), although he allegedly lived in his own home.
“DBR operatives together with policemen, on the prosecutor’s command, questioned all the neighbors. Of course, no one confirmed that he lived there. Now it has started again,” – the lawyer said.
The lawyer says that as evidence they submitted to the court the electricity and water meter readings, which showed zero consumption for the period when Kucheravy allegedly lived in his Kherson apartment.
In September last year Kucheravy filed a lawsuit in which he asked to be reinstated to the position of head of the personnel department of the Main Directorate of the National Police and to be paid wages for forced absence. In general, Kucheravy asked the court to cancel four orders of the Main Directorate of the National Police. However, the court found that the orders were lawful and not subject to cancellation, so in February this year the court denied his claim; however, Kucheravy filed an appeal.
As stated in the ruling of the Fifth Administrative Court of Appeal, one of the main grounds for dismissal cited by the Main Directorate of the National Police was failure to comply with the order of suspension from service. The leadership demanded that Kucheravy, while suspended, remain at his workplace.
The court noted that a preventive measure in the form of around-the-clock house arrest from August 1, 2024 had been chosen for Kucheravy.
At the same time, the Main Directorate of the National Police accused him of failing to appear for work, whereas he physically could not do so because he was obliged’ to remain at home by court order. In fact, the policeman was dismissed for failing to comply with an order the execution of which was expressly prohibited by another court decision, the ruling says.
The head of the Kherson OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin, also sent written explanations to the court. He confirmed that Kucheravy indeed guarded him.
Interestingly, the court’s ruling states that the internal investigation regarding Mykola Kucheravy was conducted on the basis of unreliable and unverified information.
It is noted that during the investigation the police referred to information from social networks – in particular a Telegram channel and the Facebook page of the online media MOST, as well as the page of journalist Serhii Nikitenko. It was these publications that became the basis for the conclusion that Kucheravy’s actions “undermined the authority of the National Police”.
The court, however, decided that this was insufficient grounds for dismissing the policeman.
Thus the court overturned the decision of the Odesa District Administrative Court and ordered to recognize as unlawful and cancel all four orders relating to Kucheravy’s dismissal, reinstate him in the police as head of the Human Resources Management Department, and also obliged the Main Directorate of the National Police to calculate and pay him all types of monetary compensation for the period of forced absence up to the day of reinstatement.
According to several sources within various law enforcement agencies, the main reason for Mykola Kucheravy’s dismissal is a personal conflict with the former head of police of Kherson region Ihor Korol.
Sources familiar with the situation say the conflict began back in early 2022, after Korol’s appointment. He wanted to dismiss all of Prokudin’s people, which he partly succeeded in, but he could not dismiss Kucheravy.
A source in the police reported that the conflict deepened after the occupation of Kherson. Allegedly Kucheravy criticized Korol for the disorganized evacuation of the police from Kherson, which worsened their relations.
Apparently the conflict between Korol and Oleksandr Prokudin, which flared up again in early 2023 after Prokudin’s appointment as head of the Kherson OVA, did not help his case either. The situation was worsened by the fact that regional prosecutor Serhii Hrytsenko sided with Korol, who “plays his own game” and attacks Prokudin and his people from all sides.
It is clear this is not the end of the story. Mykola Kucheravy faces a criminal trial mentioned above. His lawyers are confident he will avoid punishment, because the case materials already show that at that time he had no influence on the service centers that issued the licenses.
MOST will continue to monitor the situation, which at first seemed entirely criminal, but now has become clear that it has a political subtext.