People’s Deputy from the Servant of the People Alexander Kunitsky this summer received approval from the Verkhovna Rada for a five-day trip on a short-term business trip abroad. However, as Schemes found out, he stayed abroad for almost three weeks.
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According to the parliamentary staff, Kunitsky was seconded to Israel from July 3 to July 7, 2023 “as part of the activities of the parliamentary group on interparliamentary relations with Israel,” where he is a co-chairman.
In a letter to the Rada, Kunitsky called the purpose of the trip “the development and strengthening of friendly relations between countries,” and among the people with whom they met, the people’s deputy indicated Knesset deputies, representatives of the Jewish community, religious communities and citizens of Ukraine “temporarily staying in Israel.” The deputy did not name any names.
Kunitsky returned to Ukraine, according to the Schemes, only on July 22. Journalists found out that in the interval after the work trip and before returning to Ukraine, Kunitsky was spotted at the airport in the American state of Florida.
According to the Schemes, members of the people’s deputy’s family now live in the United States. Also in the state of Florida lives the official assistant to the deputy Kunitsky and the owner of the Kharkov holding company for the production of Autoenterprise charging stations, Dmitry Nikonov, which he himself notes on his social networks.
Nikonov, according to border service data, left Ukraine three months before a full-scale war.
The Schemes remind that in 2020, NABU opened criminal proceedings after the release of the Schemes investigation, that deputy Kunitsky used his mandate in the interests of the Autoenterprise company. Kunitsky and company representatives denied these accusations. The NABU investigation is still ongoing.
At the time of Kunitsky’s trip, Ukraine already had a ban on travel abroad for officials during martial law without valid grounds.
The deputy did not respond to calls and notices from the editor asking him to explain why he violated the terms of the exit permit.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.