After the release of our material: Deputy Minister of Defense Serhiy Melnyk may become the new Prosecutor General of Ukraine, our editorial office received additional materials regarding Serhiy Melnyk's criminal ties.
We will remind you that the official biography of the Deputy Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, Brigadier General of Justice Serhiy Melnyk is closely connected with Kharkiv, in particular with his work at the Yaroslav the Wise National Law University.
Also, in 2019, Serhiy Melnyk was involved in the area of conducting the OOS as an advisor on legal issues, and from 2021 - the head of the Kharkiv garrison. From September 2022, Serhiy Melnyk is the deputy commander of the operational group of Kharkiv troops. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian army, Melnyk alone led the defense of Kharkiv.
According to our sources, despite his departure to Kyiv, Serhiy Melnyk continues to maintain close contact with the Kharkiv elite. In particular, Serhiy Melnyk has excellent relations with the team of the now deceased Gennady Kernes and the local businessman, owner of the Kharkiv golf club "Superior Golf Club", Yuriy Sapronov. Interestingly, Serhiy Melnyk met Sapronov through the people of Kernes.
Regarding Serhii Melnyk's connections with Kharkiv criminality, according to our source, this story began with the beginning of a full-scale invasion, when Serhiy Melnyk led the "defense of Kharkiv". It was then that the Kraken special unit began to form, from among "football fans, veterans of the ATO, as well as IT experts and civil servants."
This "motley" group, which was later taken under the control of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUD) of the Ministry of Defense, at the initial stage included representatives of criminality, who were not so concerned with the "protection of Kharkiv" as they began to rob local businesses: they taxed entrepreneurs, stole humanitarian aid , looted several car dealerships.
Everything is allegedly "for the needs of the army" and on the "order" of Kharkiv Chief of Defense Serhii Melnyk. Serhii Melnyk knew about the robbery of the local population, but did not respond to complaints and took no action to stop it, which became a "black spot" in his white biography.
It is also worth noting that Serhiy Melnyk "did not settle in" at the Ministry of Defense. According to our sources, "although Oleg Tatarov recommended Melnyk for the position of Prosecutor General, Rustem Umerov is generally not part of the "Tatar team", so the old guard is doing everything to prevent Melnyk from managing real processes. So he lost the "psychological service", which was subordinated to the doctors."
