Denys Komarnytsky, a former deputy of the Kyiv City Council suspected of land corruption, was assisted by law enforcement in his escape abroad. This was revealed in an investigation published by the publication “Ukrainska Pravda.”
This is reported by Business • Media
According to information, four days after the start of the NABU and SAP operation called “Clean City,” Komarnytsky was hiding in Kyiv and the surrounding area. On February 10, he reached out to his friend Yuriy Dovhalenko for help in crossing the state border of Ukraine.
“On February 10, 2025, around 18:00, my friend Denys Komarnytsky called me on the Signal messenger and informed me of the need to head west due to issues related to the criminal prosecution by NABU. Later, Komarnytsky stated that he wished to cross the state border of Ukraine for shelter. He added that all actions regarding his transport to western Ukraine needed to be completed as quickly as possible before he was officially declared wanted,” Dovhalenko recounted during his interrogation by the SBU.
Dovhalenko confirmed his involvement in organizing Komarnytsky’s exit. “After that, on February 11, around 02:00, while in the private sector of Osokorky, I met with my friends. I explained to them that Komarnytsky had approached me for help in getting him to western Ukraine and crossing the border due to the NABU investigation. They agreed to the action I proposed,” he added.
It is known that Dovhalenko and three of his friends who assisted Komarnytsky had official identification as public non-staff employees of the SBU’s operational unit. On February 11, at 08:00, in two Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles, whose license plates are not in the National Police database, these “friends” of Dovhalenko picked up Komarnytsky from the Roslavichi cottage settlement in the Obukhiv district of Kyiv region.
According to information, a vehicle with the inscription “200” on the windshield drove ahead of the car with Komarnytsky at a distance of about 30 km, performing a reconnaissance function – checking which checkpoints were on the road and whether they were searching for the former Kyiv City Council deputy. Thus, the car with Komarnytsky reached almost to the city of Khust in the Transcarpathian region. At the border crossing, the former deputy was assisted by employees of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of the Transcarpathian region.
After the arrest, Senior Investigator Vitaliy Beskrovny reported that he received a call from Dmytro Nykishyn asking for contacts of a person who could help him leave the country. It later turned out that this was about Komarnytsky. Beskrovny connected him with Vasyl Limak, who offered his services for $10,000.
Komarnytsky, along with employees of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of the Transcarpathian region, reached the city of Khust, where he stayed for four days. Then, Beskrovny helped him relocate to Mezhhirya. Subsequently, Komarnytsky was taken to the deputy of the Transcarpathian Regional Council Yuriy Pokorba in Uzhhorod, where he remained for several more days.
According to information, on February 16, Komarnytsky approached the police border unit in Romania, where he requested asylum. The employees of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of the Transcarpathian region who assisted Komarnytsky in crossing the border were dismissed, and the SBU initiated an investigation against them. Law enforcement also emphasized that the public non-staff employees of the SBU’s operational unit who also participated in the scheme were stripped of this status a week before Komarnytsky’s escape.