Parliamentary Omertà: Why MP Tkachenko Evades Inquiries into Staged Evacuations and Cloned License Plates

The international journalists' association "DE L'AUTRE CÔTÉ DU DIALOGUE" has received an official response from the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine regarding MP Maksym Tkachenko of the ruling Servant of the People party. While the Parliamentary Ethics and Regulatory Committee hides behind bureaucratic limitations, the lawmaker refuses to address journalistic inquiries regarding illicit vehicle registrations and wages a political campaign against the Ministry of Social Policy.

Stonewalling Legitimate Press Inquiries

Within the statutory deadline, MP Maksym Tkachenko failed to provide any response to an official inquiry submitted by our investigative team. The issue under scrutiny is precise: under what legal authority does his organization, "VPO Ukraine," operate a Volkswagen Transporter van bearing fraudulent license plates in the active combat zone?

The documented evidence reveals:

• Initial operation using decommissioned British plates AJ54 USE, registered to a scrap vehicle disposed of in the UK back in 2015;
• Subsequent swap to Ukrainian plates KA 6359 TO, which legitimately belong to a completely different private vehicle—a Mercedes-Benz GLK 220 registered in Kyiv.

Instead of complying with Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding obstruction of journalistic work, Tkachenko mounted a political counter-offensive. Taking the parliamentary floor, he submitted a motion seeking the dismissal of Minister of Social Policy Denys Ulyutin. The motive is straightforward: the Ministry had just officially confirmed (Letter Ref. No. 013-5293) that Tkachenko's NGO is absent from the national automated register of humanitarian aid, its partner foundation declared zero kilograms of imported cargo, and the van in question exists in no official registry.

Parliament Disclaims Jurisdiction

The formal complaint was processed under an electronic resolution by First Deputy Chairman of Parliament Oleksandr Korniyenko (File No. 2369141).

In an official response signed by the Committee Chairman Serhiy Kalchenko (Ref. No. 04-28/14-2026/248699, Oct 20, 2026; SEDO barcode 2373084), the Committee delivered an unequivocal bureaucratic verdict:

1. The Committee explicitly reiterated that a Member of Parliament is legally forbidden from using their mandate for personal or corrupt gain and must abide by high ethical standards.
2. However, the Committee stated that its disciplinary mandate is strictly limited to misconduct during plenary sessions inside the legislative chamber. It confirmed it has no legal mandate to investigate criminal matters, fraudulent registration, or retaliation occurring outside plenary debates.

This response confirms that internal parliamentary mechanisms cannot resolve this matter, thereby opening the door to criminal prosecution.

The Façade of Frontline "Evacuations"

The lawmaker's evasiveness aligns with how his affiliate groups operate on the ground. While Tkachenko laments the lack of public housing programs in the chamber, his personnel stage dramatized video content for public donations.

A telltale incident occurred on October 16 in Kramatorsk on Yaroslava Mudroho Street: Operators dressed in full military combat gear escorted a woman leaving her apartment, holding only a lightweight coat. While recording for social media, the operator asked: "Where are you evacuating to?". Caught off guard, she replied: "For now, to my mother's in Kryvyi Rih". People are routinely placed on camera to generate social media engagement and online donations, only to serve as uncoordinated private transit without verifiable logistics or safety oversight. Furthermore, associates from the same foundation have been documented posing in front of civilian vehicles destroyed by enemy drones to falsely project combat vulnerability.

Escalation to Law Enforcement

The attempt by MP Tkachenko to utilize parliamentary immunity to conceal fraudulent activity and intimidate public officials is now fully documented.

Because the parliamentary committee formally acknowledged that it lacks the mandate to investigate these allegations, our association is submitting all gathered evidence to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), and the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) to initiate proceedings under Articles 171, 290, and 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.