Kuchma spotted in Côte d'Azur
Ukrainska Pravda journalists have spotted Ukraine's second president, Leonid Kuchma, on holiday in the Côte d'Azur.
Source: The Monaco Battalion 3, an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda; Kuchma’s press service in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda
Details: The former president was living there on the estate of his son-in-law, Viktor Pinchuk.
Kuchma, who is 84 and was the second president of Ukraine, did not comment on the Russian Federation’s aggression in Ukraine until 15 days after the full-scale Russian invasion had started.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Kuchma was abroad in early May 2023.
Update: After this article was published, a representative of Kuchma's press service contacted Ukrainska Pravda.
She said Kuchma had left Ukraine only twice since February 2022, the first time in July 2022 and the second time in late April or early May 2023.
The second president’s press service emphasised that both trips took place because Kuchma's physical condition required medical intervention: "On the video, he is accompanied by a doctor."
Kuchma's spokeswoman Darka Olifer also recalled the joint address given by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd presidents of Ukraine on 27 February 2022 and Kuchma's statement on 1 March 2022, where he called on the Russians not to commit genocide. Olifer shared both posts on her social media.
According to her, his charity, the Leonid Kuchma Presidential "Ukraine" Foundation, continues its work: "We keep the public informed about its work. We have been helping the Security and Defence Forces of Ukraine since 2014 – we conduct this work in private."
According to the spokeswoman, Kuchma and his wife are currently in Kyiv.
Oleksandr Tabalov, a former MP from the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, and Volodymyr Skorobahach, a former member of the Kharkiv Oblast Council, were also spotted on the Côte d'Azur.
The Skorobahach family moved to Cap-Ferrat almost a year ago.
At the time, Skorobahach's daughter, also a Kharkiv-based MP, said her father was leaving the country to volunteer for a charitable foundation. Skorobahach resigned as an MP in order to do so.
Anastasiia Baiborodina, the ex-wife of Serhii Rybalka, a former MP from the Radical Party, was also spotted at the coastal property.
Oleksandr Katsuba, former deputy chairman of the management board of Naftogaz-Ukraine, was abroad as well. The Katsubа family is linked to one of the biggest corruption scandals of Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency: the purchase of the oil rigs known as the "Boyko towers".
Katsuba told Ukrainska Pravda he had left the country to buy cars for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and visit his children.
Yurii Ivaniushchenko fled to Monaco nine years ago. A former MP from the Party of Regions [currently disbanded and banned in Ukraine – ed.], he is one of the closest associates and friends of the fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych.
According to Ukrainska Pravda sources in business circles, Ivaniushchenko shuttles between three locations: Moscow, Dubai and Monaco.
Although he does not have an active social life in Monaco, Ukrainska Pravda managed to find the elite residential complex where Ivaniushchenko resides, complete with yacht club, swimming pool, concierge service, security, and helipads nearby. It is called Palazzo Leonardo and is situated on the coast on the Monaco border.
The complex was located thanks to an Instagram post by Ivaniushchenko's daughter.
In May, Ukrainska Pravda received information that Ivaniushchenko was in Monaco and filmed him in a Rolls-Royce.
The Ukrainska Pravda journalists also spotted Borys Baum in Monaco. He is a former adviser to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the former deputy head of the President’s Office, and a former First Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries.
Oleksandr Bohuslaiev, the son of former MP Viacheslav Bohuslaiev, who is currently under suspicion of high treason, also owns real estate in Monaco.
Ukrainska Pravda sources reported that since the arrest of Bohuslaiev Sr., his son is no longer seen in Monaco.
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