Deputies of Kyiv regional council paid millions from poverty relief fund to their own families

Nine deputies of the Kyiv Regional Council and their close relatives have been served with suspicion notices for embezzling funds intended for socially vulnerable citizens.

This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine.

The money was siphoned through the regional social program “Zabota” (“Care”), established to provide assistance to those in need. According to investigators, relatives and trusted associates of the deputies received payments from this program, in some cases amounting to hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.

As one specific episode, police cite a case in which the parents of one of the suspects repeatedly received payments ostensibly for medical treatment between 2021 and 2025. At the same time, according to investigators, the family was not in difficult financial circumstances. Over those years, the deputy’s mother purchased real estate and an expensive car with a combined value of more than approximately €67,000.

Part of the funds received were, according to law enforcement, spent on aesthetic medicine and other services.

Police estimate the total alleged damage at more than approximately €58,000.