Bogolyubov’s Escape via “Yagodin”: The Case Was Suspended, but Another Suspect Was Identified
17 July 15:51
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the departure abroad of former PrivatBank co-owner Gennadiy Bogolyubov is ongoing in several criminal cases. At the same time, the pre-trial investigation into the businessman himself has been suspended for now, while law enforcement officials are identifying another possible participant in the case involving the organization of his departure. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing an analysis of court documents published by ZN .UA.
According to the publication, the main case is a criminal proceeding opened back in September 2022 under charges of money laundering and the illegal transportation of persons across the state border. After Bogolyubov fled Ukraine in June 2024, certain aspects of the investigation were separated from his case.
A separate case pertains directly to Gennady Bogolyubov ( No. 62024000000001046). He has been notified of suspicion of illegally transporting persons across the state border and illegally obtaining another person’s passport. At the same time, another case (No. 62024000000000979) is already pending before the court and concerns Volodymyr Makarenko, the head of the border control inspector team at the “Yagodin” checkpoint , who is accused of facilitating the businessman’s illegal departure.
The Bogolyubov case has been suspended
According to materials from the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, as early as February 6, 2025, the State Bureau of Investigations suspended the pre-trial investigation into Bogolyubov. The reason cited was that the suspect is evading the investigation, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Investigators also submitted a request for international legal assistance to the competent authorities in Poland.
“A request for international legal assistance has been forwarded to the National Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Poland for processing. To date, no response to this request (…) has been received,” the ruling states.
A new suspect has emerged in the case
Meanwhile, in the criminal proceedings against border guard Volodymyr Makarenko, investigators have identified another individual who, according to law enforcement, may have been involved in organizing Bogolyubov’s escape.
According to a ruling by the Lyuboml District Court of Volyn Oblast, investigators received authorization to access banking information to identify the user of a specific phone number. The court noted that identifying this individual is of significant importance for verifying the circumstances of the criminal proceedings, as he or she may have been involved in Bogolyubov’s illegal crossing of the state border.
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The court rulings do not specify who exactly this phone number called or who its owner is. At the same time, it is the defense team for border guard Makarenko that is insisting on identifying the owner of the number, hoping thereby to prove his innocence.
Therefore, it can be assumed that Makarenko may have been receiving instructions from someone over the phone regarding specific actions in connection with Bogolyubov’s departure from Ukraine.
At the time the former co-owner of PrivatBank left the country via the Yagodin checkpoint, the Western Regional Directorate of the State Border Guard Service was headed by Valeriy Vavryniuk. Volodymyr Makarenko, whose case is already being heard in court, was his subordinate. Following these events, Vavryniuk was appointed first deputy head of the State Border Guard Service and later became acting head of the service.
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As a reminder, in January 2026, MP Oleksiy Goncharenko reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) had conducted searches at Vavryniuk’s residence. Then, in May, the Bureau announced that it had uncovered a scheme to extort $1 million for the supply of drones to the State Border Guard Service.
As reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", PrivatBank recently won an appeal against Kolomoyskyi and Bogolyubov.
