Ukrainian MP flees abroad amid investigation

Kyiv [Ukraine], August 27: Mr. Dmytruk left Ukraine on August 24, a day before Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin charged the lawmaker with assaulting a soldier and a law enforcement officer in two separate fights.
The Prosecutor General's Office did not directly name Mr. Dmytruk, but sources in law enforcement agencies confirmed to Ukraine's Ukrainska Pravda news agency that the main suspect was Mr. Dmytruk.
Tetiana Sapian, DBR's communications adviser, said Mr Dmytruk had crossed the border illegally. According to Ukrainska Pravda, the lawmaker did not officially cross through a Ukrainian border checkpoint.
Authorities are investigating several people, including border control officers, on suspicion of helping Mr Dmytruk cross the border illegally.
Mr. Dmytruk, an independent member of the Ukrainian parliament, was involved in two separate fights. While in Odessa, Mr. Dmytruk and his accomplices allegedly caused minor injuries to an on-duty law enforcement officer during an altercation. The lawmaker also allegedly tried to steal the officer's weapon.
In another incident in Kyiv, Mr. Dmytruk was accused of fighting with a soldier, hitting him several times in the head and causing injuries.
Ms. Sapian also confirmed that the investigation into Mr. Dmytruk has been going on for a long time, but the charges against the lawmaker are awaiting the signature of the prosecutor general.
According to the deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Ethics Committee Serhii Yevtushok, there are currently no grounds to strip Mr. Dmytruk of his parliamentary rights. MPs are only disqualified if a court decides to strip them of their citizenship if they have dual citizenship, or in the event of the death of the MP or resignation.
In a Telegram post on August 24, Mr. Dmytruk admitted that law enforcement officials had searched his hotel room in Kyiv, as well as his apartment in Odessa.
Mr. Dmytruk claimed that the search was politically motivated, due to his previous pro- Russian views , as well as his support for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which is believed to be linked to the Kremlin.
Mr. Dmytruk was first elected as an independent MP representing Odessa in 2019. He later joined and was expelled from the Servant of the People faction in parliament.
Law enforcement officials told Ukrainska Pravda that Mr. Dmytruk fled Ukraine via Moldova and boarded a flight to Rome, Italy, the same day.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper