People's Deputy from the "Servant of the People" faction Oleksandr Kunytskyi left Ukraine on September 23 on a business trip to the United States to "deepen Ukrainian-American interparliamentary cooperation." The People's Deputy has not returned since then. This was reported by "Schemes" with reference to sources in law enforcement agencies and in deputy circles.
"He left on this business trip after the State Bureau of Investigation began investigating the circumstances of his other trip abroad in December 2023, in the summer of 2023 - when Kunitsky received permission from the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada to go on a short-term business trip to Israel, but returned only three weeks later," the report says.
In a comment to “Schemes”, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk said that “the very fact of initiating a criminal case does not create any restrictions on the activities of people's deputies by law.” Kunytskyi last participated in the vote during the plenary sessions on September 17-20 of this year, and the Committee on Law Enforcement Activities, of which he is a member, says that the deputy was last present in October, via video conference.
As "Schemes" learned, Oleksandr Kunytskyi arranged a business trip to the USA from September 21 to 28, 2024. The purpose of the trip is "deepening Ukrainian-American interparliamentary cooperation.".
The Verkhovna Rada, upon request by “Schemes”, did not provide information about this trip, noting that “information on official trips of people’s deputies of Ukraine during the special period is included in the list of information that constitutes official information.” At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada Office emphasized that “reimbursement of travel expenses from the state budget was not carried out.”.
The deputy left Ukraine on September 23 and, as of December, has not returned for three months. According to the electronic system of the Verkhovna Rada, the deputy last participated in plenary sessions of the parliament from September 17 to 20 (on September 20, he “did not vote” all day). But back in October, in a video conference mode, he was present at a meeting of his committee – on law enforcement issues – as its chairman Serhiy Ionushas told “Schemes”.
“After that, as far as I know, he did not participate in the committee meetings, and in the meetings of the VRU either,” Ionushas noted.
In a comment to journalists, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Kornienko said that, according to his information, the Parliament's Office tried to contact the deputy, but "did not receive a clear answer.".
“As the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada, we always emphasize the need to observe discipline and the presence of deputies at meetings. The chairman always addresses absent deputies in accordance with the regulations. Of course, this is an unpleasant situation. Moreover, Kunytskyi is not the only case - there were other deputies with similar situations,” Kornienko noted.
Kunitsky received permission for a foreign business trip to the United States after Ukrainian law enforcement officers began investigating the circumstances of his other trip to Israel, in the summer of 2023, under a ban on traveling abroad without proper grounds for officials.
Then, as “Schemes” found out, Kunytsky received the Verkhovna Rada’s approval to leave for a short-term business trip for five days, but stayed abroad for almost three weeks. After which, the then Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin initiated criminal proceedings - under the articles “official forgery” and “use of a knowingly forged document”. “Schemes” contacted the State Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating this case, to clarify at what stage it is and what investigative actions have been carried out, but in response the State Bureau noted that this information is classified.
It is noted that at the same time, new stories appear on the deputy's Facebook page almost every day, in particular regarding the incident that occurred at the beginning of the war. In March 2022, Kunitsky was detained for filming a checkpoint. Currently, a trial is underway against the police officers.
Following fugitive People's Deputy Artem Dmytruk, another elected official, Oleksandr Kunytskyi, has likely fled Ukraine.
