The "Postal Bank" of the Lugansk OVA: How the Lawyer's Media Narrative Accidentally Exposed a Multi-Million Scheme

In political circles, the resignation of the head of the Lugansk OVA, Oleksiy Kharchenko, is no longer being watched, because an information battle has erupted around SBU criminal case No. 42026130000000016. The regional outlet "Realna Gazeta" published a piece giving the floor to the defense of the detained director of the Department of Information Policy, Albina Kusheleva.

Attorney Tymchenko presented a touching narrative: the case is allegedly fabricated due to a "conflict with the SBU," the official "never held the money in her hands," the seized foreign currency constitutes legal savings and her son's UN funds, and the 192,000 UAH in cash was intended solely to pay for media services. However, when translating this defense speech from the language of public relations into the language of the Criminal Procedure Code and comparing it with court rulings and official asset declarations, a completely different picture emerges.

"Money for the Media": A Dangerous Admission by the Defense

The attorney's core argument, widely circulated by journalists, is simple: the 192,000 UAH, which the prosecution classifies as a kickback, was actually intended for media outlets for publishing materials.

However, the lawyer omitted the cash transfer procedure recorded by the investigating judge of the Sobornyi District Court of Dnipro in rulings dated September 8, 2026 (cases No. 201/13634/26 and No. 201/13665/26):

1. The tender winner, Individual Entrepreneur Smetankin (contract No. 7 dated April 3, 2026, for 3.21 million UAH), subcontracted 455,700 UAH to a controlled individual entrepreneur.
2. The subcontractor withdrew the non-cash budget funds in cash from a bank.
3. She kept exactly 20% as a cash-out fee.
4. The remaining 80% in clean cash was packed into cardboard boxes and sent via "Nova Poshta" mail: on July 30 from Kropyvnytskyi (76,800 UAH) and on September 1 from Svaliava (63,000 UAH).
5. The recipient of both packages was not an editor of any of the mentioned publications, but Kusheleva’s deputy, Andriy Zaitsev, who picked up the boxes at Dnipro branch No. 20 (on Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Avenue) and handed them to his boss.

Legal Interpretation:
The defense claims that state funds were intended for journalists. However, cash settlements by budgetary institutions—especially via private postal packages without cash receipts—are strictly prohibited by law. The defense has de facto confirmed the creation of an illegal, off-the-books cash fund ("black cash") for under-the-table payments by the department’s leadership, where 80% of the sum ended up in the hands of regional administration officials rather than media accounting departments.

Ten Thousand Phantom Euros: When the Official Declaration Contradicts the Lawyer

Another argument voiced in "Realna Gazeta" is that a portion of Kusheleva’s "declared funds" was seized during the search.
Albina Kusheleva’s official NACP asset declaration for 2025, filed by her personally on March 17, 2026, reveals the following:

• Income: A salary from the Lugansk OVA amounting to 979,228 UAH per year.
• Monetary Assets (Section 12): Exclusively $40,000 USD held in cash.
• Hryvnias and Euros: 0 UAH and 0 EUR. The official legally possessed no cash in national or European currency.

Let us compare this with the materials of the Sobornyi District Court ruling dated September 8, 2026 (case No. 201/13636/26), which froze the assets seized in Kusheleva’s apartment:

• 10,000 EUR;
• 114,000 UAH;
• 3,170 USD.

Legal Interpretation:
Where the remaining $36,830 USD went remains a mystery. However, the presence of 10,000 EUR and 114,000 UAH in the apartment completely refutes the defense's claims. Since these were absent from the declaration, this indicates either illicit enrichment and false declaration (Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) or the direct conversion of the postal kickbacks. Furthermore, the seized 500-UAH bills had sequential serial numbers (from ЛЄ2007540 to ЛЄ2007556), proving they were freshly withdrawn from a bank vault.

The Legend of the UN Employee and the Safety Deposit Box

To justify the blocked currency and the safety deposit box, the defense introduced a media narrative about a "son working for a UN agency with a clean salary of $2,600."
However, in Kusheleva’s official declaration, Section 2.2 ("Information on Family Members") states: "Information unavailable." The official legally declared that she lives alone. If the adult son lives separately, the official's access rights to his bank safe in Dnipro reflect the classic anti-corruption indicator of using relatives as nominees to store shadow funds.

A Procedural Flaw: Free and Not Suspended

The attorney stated to the press that his client "has already been suspended from her duties."
However, the official court registry records the exact opposite. In a ruling dated September 8, 2026, in case No. 201/13665/26, the investigating judge of the Sobornyi District Court of Dnipro returned the suspension motion to the prosecutor unsatisfied.

SBU investigators detailed the risks: access to the office allows the destruction of documentation under contract No. 7 and pressure on subordinate witnesses. Yet, the court denied the request due to a prosecution error: the state failed to attach a copy of the order appointing Kusheleva to her position. The judge noted that without the appointment order, it was legally impossible to verify whether she actually works as the director.

The defense's attempt to craft an image of an "innocent victim of SBU intrigue" through the media collapsed against primary documents. Claims about money "going to the media" effectively confirmed a slush fund for the press, while the mathematics of the seized currency proves that funds accumulated in the pockets of Lugansk OVA officials rather than newsrooms. The court rulings recorded the hard facts: the official posted bail, kept her position due to a prosecution blunder, and is now attempting to cover up the postal kickback business with half-truths in the regional media.