Early last week the TSN news bulletin on the 1+1 national television channel showed a scandalous episode with uncharacteristically transparent hints (government-controlled television programs prefer veiled statements and smooth phraseology).
Its author, Yuri Nesterenko, broached the subject of contract killings in general and assassinations in particular. Reminding the audience of the noted victims — Deputy Yevhen Shcherban (1996), Odesa businessman Arkady Tabachnyk (1997), Yuneksbank President Yakiv Rahozin (1997), and Interbank Currency Exchange President Vadym Hetman (1998) — whose murders remain unsolved, he went on to mention controversial Russian tracks linking all these crimes.
The text was neutral enough, but what the screen showed lent the whole thing a distinct scandalous touch. Volodymyr Horbulin, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, appeared three times and he is still considered among those closest to the President.
The three stills are from the sequence with the host saying that “a well-known pro-Russian politician in Ukraine” is involved with the assassinations and that his wife allegedly took all her money from Tabachnyk’s bank three days prior to his death. What made the situation even more thrilling was that Vadym Rabynovych, whom the press associates with 1+1, and Volodymyr Horbulin are in the President’s entourage. Both are Ukrainian basketball fans and dedicated sponsors. Another interesting detail: the author, Yuri Nesterenko, wrote in the newspaper, Region on March 14, “Why should Vadym Rabynovych, owner of the TsKA-RIKO basketball club, the late Arkady Tabachnyk, owner of Bipa-Moda, and Mykhailo Brodsky, owner of Dendi-Basket, invest in basketball which is under Horbulin’s command?”
The Day asked 1+1 management to explain the above audio-video sequence. No comment. A phone call to Mr. Horbulin’s office was more effective. When asked to comment on the TV program, he said: “It is Mr. N’s way to slip his own sins into someone else’s pocket (Mr. Horbulin actually identified Mr. N).”
One can only repeat Yuri Nesterenko’s closing statement: “Even if there are people at the Interior Ministry who know the names of the conspirators, nothing will be disclosed, for that is the tradition in Ukraine.”
General Mykhailo Korniyenko, Deputy Minister of the Interior, Chief of the Kyiv Militia, voiced his opinion about the TV program as follows: “This is nonsense. It’s just that someone is trying to lead the investigation astray.”
Of course, we do not claim the role of judge in this dispute (which is likely to have a sequel). We only try to analyze what you see in the photos and read below. We selected the stills because we listened to the synchronized text. The following is a transcript.
“It has become traditional in Ukraine to trace assassinations of noted politicians and businessmen to Russia. Whoever shot People’s Deputy of Ukraine Yevhen Shcherban in Donetsk left militia uniforms and the murder weapons on the scene. The Interior Ministry has identified the killers but cannot find them.
“Law enforcement authorities also know exactly who ordered the sensational murder of Yuneksbank President Yakiv Rohozin. These people hold influential posts in the Russian banking community and the Ukrainian authorities have a hard time proving their direct involvement in this bloodletting, because there are enough defenders of Russian interests in Ukraine.
“At the latest Interior Ministry briefing Yuri Kravchenko stated: ‘It is possible that Vadym Hetman’s assassination will be linked to other famous murders. So far we do not possess enough information.’ The Minister did not say what other murders he had in mind.
“However, confidential sources insist that some headway has been made in investigating the killing of Arkadiy Tabachnyk, a reputed Odesa businessman and President of the Bipa-Moda Concern. His partners testified that three days prior to his death the wife of a well-known pro-Russian politician in Ukraine took all her money from that businessman’s account. The ‘Russian version’ surfaced in the media after a Ukrainian Interior Ministry delegation visited Moscow.
“So far there has been no official comment on the investigation into the assassination of Vadym Hetman. Even if there are people at the Interior Ministry who know the names of the conspirators, nothing will be disclosed, for such is the tradition in Ukraine. They won’t even waste time gathering evidence of their guilt.”
“Blaming influential foreigners for the bloody assaults on Ukrainian law enforcement officers is not so simple: there is no shortage of defenders of Russian interests in Ukraine”
“According to information from partners, three days before the wife of a prominent
pro-Russian businessman in Ukraine withdrew all the money from the businessman’s account”
“Even should the IMF learn the names of the culprits, traditionally they are not named in Ukraine, where little time is wasted gathering evidence of their guilt”









