At the center of the scandal is Violetta Drepina, a former stylist for Kvartal 95 and current advisor to the Office of the President. Her family became the owner of 25 hectares in the Kozynskyi reserve near Kyiv, and just a few months after the deal, they found themselves at the center of criminal investigations and attempted blackmail.
According to blogger Volodymyr Bondarenko, Drepina worked as a stylist for Volodymyr Zelensky, Serhiy Shefir, and Borys Mindich until 2019. After Zelensky was elected president, she received the position of advisor in the Office of the President.
In November 2023, Violetta's husband, businessman Anton Drepin, through his investment fund JSC "ZNVKIF "Monolit" purchased 25 hectares in the "Kozinsky" reserve for UAH 119 million at the SETAM electronic auction. Previously, these lands belonged to the structures of the first President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, and later passed to Ukreximbank due to an outstanding loan.
Already in June 2024, Drepin received an offer to “resolve the issue” with the criminal consequences of this purchase. The intermediary, who presented himself as a person with access to the leadership of the National Police and other law enforcement agencies, claimed that the deal could lead to the seizure of the plots. He demanded $700,000 for “peace of mind” and avoiding arrest.
In November 2024, while transferring part of the amount — $200 thousand — the intermediary was detained. Currently, the State Bureau of Investigation is conducting a fraud case, and the National Police is investigating possible violations during the purchase of the protected lands.
The scandal has combined several sensitive topics - proximity to the Office of the President, the purchase of protected areas that once belonged to political heavyweights, and attempts to influence business through criminal pressure and blackmail. How the parallel investigations will end is not yet known, but the story has already sparked a public discussion about the availability of protected lands and the use of personal connections in such operations.
