A rigged criminal case against Mind editor-in-chief Eugene Shpytko: what has happened

On May 5, the SBU arrested Roman Matys, the president of the International Investment Office and a former head of the Lviv Regional State Administration's Investment Policy Department, and Eugene Shpytko, editor-in-chief of Mind. They are suspected of misuse of humanitarian aid. The case is being investigated based on a criminal offence that is described in Part 3 of Art. 201-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal use of humanitarian aid, charitable donations or gratuitous aid for the purpose of making a profit).

Information about this incident appeared almost immediately in several sources – on Telegram channels and in the local media. LvivMedia journalists were present at the arrest.

In less than a day, the news became nationwide. And the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, appearingly not wanting to lose its share of fame in a high-profile case, has released additional details. “According to the investigation, the residents of the Lviv region during the martial law organised the illegal sale of military equipment received as humanitarian aid. In addition, the men appropriated voluntary donations from benefactors. Then the funds were withdrawn from the accounts through bank terminals and branches,” the statement says.

What really happened?

After russia started its war against Ukraine on February 24, the life and work format of Ukrainians has changed dramatically. The Mind editorial staff focused on coverage of military topics and private volunteering. The editor-in-chief Eugene Shpytko, having the legal opportunity to go abroad as a father of many children, remained in Ukraine during the war and devoted himself from the very first day of the war to helping the army (he volunteered abroad and then returned to Ukraine again).

Just like many other patriots, Eugene Shpytko was involved in helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a volunteer basis and was involved in supplying the necessary items, including body armour and helmets. At the outbreak of the war and hostilities when the need for protection means for Ukrainian soldiers was the highest, it was hardly possible for private individuals to buy them directly in small batches. At the same time, requests for bulletproof vests and helmets from the Ukrainian defenders who were fighting on the front-line were coming incessantly.

Humanitarian cargoes were not involved in this activity in any way. It is exclusively about the purchase of specific goods to order of specific users. The goods were purchased at the expense of the customer. In a number of cases when an advance payment was required, Eugene Shpytko pledged his own money, which were later reimbursed.

There was no intention to make any profit from this activity. As can be verified by the consignment notes, the entry and exit prices of the nomenclature differed by no more than 4%. This difference covered the costs of logistics and bank charges for transferring funds. That means, it was not about profits at all. Eugene often bought and donated cars, helmets, etc. at his own expense.

Volunteers who Shpytko collaborated with, note his professionalism and impeccable decency. “We know Eugene, together with his principles, responsibilities and family quite well. He gave us a car, which was purchased in Sweden, for free, and another car from the UK is now on its way to Ukraine. We also received a batch of helmets, sleeping bags, tents, camouflage nets – all of these were sent to military subunits,” said a representative of a large volunteer organisation from Southern Ukraine.  

Representatives of the Union of Veterans from Kyiv also expressed their gratitude to him.

Mind's interlocutor from the volunteer sphere notes that the resonance caused by this case and the deliberate publication of personal data have caused great damage to the volunteer movement in Ukraine, whose representatives are now “frozen in anticipation, guessing who will be the next victim.”

We should emphasise that the case has all the hallmarks of a rigged one, including one-time publicity and information leak with its details to anonymous Telegram channels.

Roman Matys is known for his consistent criticism of the leadership of the Lviv Regional State Administration (now the Military Administration), including its head Maksym Kozytskyy. Mind is not a party to this conflict, but it has been informed about it. Recently, the material named “Russian Lvivans” was published. There the possible conflict of interests of Maksym Kozytskyy during the discovery of russian business in the region through the indirect connection of his father's partners with Gazprom was analysed. It should be noted that the position of the Regional State Administration and the structures of Zinoviy Kozytskyy, his father, was duly taken into account and presented in the material as well.

Representatives of LvivMedia were also present at the arrest. The beneficial owner of this media, according to the opendatabot service data, is Zinoviy Kozytskyy. It should be mentioned that spending SBU resources during the war on petty showdowns of local officials and settling their scores, while they should be focused on finding external enemies, is directly contrary to the interests of the state.