Semyon Igorevich Semenchenko(Ukrainian Semyon Igorovich Semenchenko - formerly Konstantin Igorevich Grishin; born June 6, 1974, Sevastopol) - Ukrainian public, military and political figure. He gained fame and political influence as the commander of the Donbass volunteer battalion. Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the VIII convocation from the Samopomich party.

Semyon Igorevich Semenchenko
Ukrainian Semyon Igorovich Semenchenko
Date of birth June 6, 1974 (age 40)
Place of birth: Sevastopol, Crimea region
Affiliation: Armed Forces of Ukraine
Branch of the armed forces Naval Forces of Ukraine, National Guard of Ukraine
Rank reserve captain, lieutenant colonel
Commanded the Donbass battalion

By nationality - Russian. Born on June 6, 1974 in Sevastopol.
On May 15, 2014, in an interview with The Guardian, Semen said that he was educated as a film director; on the Central Election Commission website, the information about the candidate for people's deputies of Ukraine indicates that Semenchenko has only a secondary education.
May 27, 2014 Semyon Semenchenko told Forbes journalists that this was his pseudonym, that in the past he was a lieutenant commander in the Ukrainian Navy, and after leaving the navy he became an entrepreneur.
May 30, 2014 in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda Semyon Semenchenko noted that before the war he was an entrepreneur and participated in the organization of Euromaidan in Donetsk.

In the “Windows-News” program on the Ukrainian TV channel “STB” on September 5, 2014, Semenchenko said that his close relatives - his mother, father and brother living in Crimea - supported the annexation of Crimea to Russia and did not want to leave. Semyon Semenchenko was worried about their safety and sent battalion soldiers to Crimea to take their relatives out. According to Semenchenko, he lived half his life in Crimea, half in Donbass, where his wife is from. His children were also born in Donbass. He was a private entrepreneur, participated in the 1st and 2nd Maidan. I was careful because I was worried about my business and family.
On September 5, 2014, Moskovsky Komsomolets published an article claiming that Semyon Semenchenko Studied at Moscow VGIK named after. Gerasimov from 2006 to 2008, in the courses of Yuri Belenky in the workshop “Dramaturgy and Television Directing”. Upon completion of his studies, he did not complete his thesis work and did not receive a diploma.
On September 14, 2014, in an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel “24,” Semenchenko said that initially he had a different last name: “ Semyon Semenchenko- it was a pseudonym, my last name was completely different, but now (according to my passport) I Semyon Semenchenko... in fact, now I already feel like Semyon Semenchenko, this name has grown with me, and I will continue to be like that.” According to Semenchenko, in the past, in the 90s, he was the editor of two newspapers, the head of a charitable foundation, the head of public organizations, was engaged in entrepreneurial activities, tried to realize himself in cinema, participated in the first and second Maidan, after the victory of the Maidan in Kyiv he returned to Donetsk - created local self-defense to counter the Russian Spring.

In an interview with the Ukrainian publication “Ostrov” on September 30, 2014. Semenchenko told the following about himself:
“My surname was not originally Semenchenko and it would be stupid if I, having a family and children, fought under my real surname. However, the person who is now useful to society and needed by the country is Semyon Semenchenko. That's what I am. I was born in Sevastopol, in 1974. My mother is Ukrainian, my father is Russian. The wife is also Ukrainian. I studied at four educational institutions. At the military school - he left and did not graduate. Studied finance and credit. He received his education at the Institute of Cinematography in Moscow (VGIK) - he dropped out and did not pass his thesis. I was depressed by the quality of Russian education, everything there is commercialized. Fourth (educational institution) - I studied cinematography. I have been self-educating all my life.
I never worked for anyone, that is, initially I worked only for myself. He was a director of enterprises. He was a private entrepreneur. He was the editor of two newspapers: “Sevastopolsky Vestnik” and “Our Sevastopolskaya Pravda” - it was a counter-newspaper - they fought against the communists in the nineties. He was the creator and director of the Charitable Foundation and a participant in two Maidans - 2004 and 2013. I tried to organize the “Will of the People” movement - we were demolishing the fences that fence off the beaches, looking for Mr. Lozinsky (BYuT deputy convicted of murder) and even caught him, or rather, we participated, let’s say, in this story. But that movement quickly died out, because there were no such tectonic faults in society as there are now... I came to the Donbass in 2000, all my children were born in the Donbass - in Makeyevka and Donetsk. My apartment has now been burned down, my office has been burned down.”

In April 2014, to counter armed groups of supporters of the Donetsk People's Republic Semenchenko formed the Donbass battalion from residents of Ukraine. On April 20, the fighters received the necessary permission to “work” from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
On June 29, 2014, he arrived in Kyiv, demanding an end to the truce and the introduction of martial law. He held a demonstration next to the Presidential Administration and spoke on the Maidan stage.
According to Arsen Avakov on Facebook, on August 19, in the battles for Ilovaisk Semenchenko received shrapnel wounds in the thigh and back and was operated on in Dnepropetrovsk, the operation was successful.

Meeting the leader of the Right Sector, Dmitry Yarosh, and commander of the Donbass battalion Semyon Semenchenko in a war zone
September 1, 2014 in the Dnepropetrovsk administration Semenchenko took off his balaclava, stating that “I was never afraid, I feared for the family, now they are safe and I am not afraid. On the same day, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov awarded him the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, III degree.

On September 9, 2014, information appeared that Semyon Semenchenko will run for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the lists of the Samopomich party. September 25, 2014 Semenchenko officially registered as a candidate for deputy from this party.
On October 2, 2014, in an interview with TSN, Semenchenko said that he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel.
On November 11, publishing an appeal to voters on his Facebook page, he signs it as “major of the NSU reserve, commander of the 2nd special battalion of the National Guard “Donbass”.

In the “Insider” program on the Ukrainian TV channel “ICTV” on October 10, 2014. Semyon Semenchenko said that his name was originally Konstantin Grishin, he was born in Sevastopol, graduated from the Sevastopol Military School, and was engaged in entrepreneurial activities. He was the founder and editor of two newspapers: Sevastopolsky Vestnik and Our Sevastopolskaya Pravda. In the early 2000s, he moved to Donetsk, worked on security systems, installed satellite television, and was a fairly wealthy person. In 2014, I was forced to move to Kyiv with my entire family. Semyon's father, a naval officer, did not want to leave and remained in Sevastopol. The story also featured Semyon's wife, Natalya Moskovets.

According to the Dozhd TV channel, Semyon Semenchenko and his wife Natalya Moskovets were the owners of the Regional Courier Service company, operating under the New Satellite Television brand. The company's annual turnover was $1.5 million, monthly revenue - 1 million hryvnia. The company was engaged in the installation and maintenance of satellite equipment in the Donetsk region. In the spring of 2014, the couple closed the company and moved to Kyiv. The TV channel provides such data, citing a former employee of the company, Evgeniy Maksimenko.

Teacher of the Moscow VGIK Vitaly Kalinin in the story of “Rain” said that he clearly remembers his ex student Semyon Semenchenko - Konstantin Grishin, during his studies, Semyon was very interested in writing screenplays and often brought these works for review. According to the Dozhd TV channel, Semenchenko began using pseudonyms long before the events in eastern Ukraine, when he was still doing business, in particular for his employees Semenchenko introduced himself as Andrey Semenovich.

On December 14, he announced plans to block humanitarian aid and cargo from the territory of the DPR “until the hostages are released.”
On January 31, 2015, during the operation to relieve the Svityaz battalion near the city of Uglegorsk, Semenchenko was shell-shocked, and while being transported from the battlefield he got into an accident. On February 1st Semyon Semenchenko Fractures and a punctured lung were recorded; his condition is described as stable and serious.

Question about real name

Semyon Semenchenko

In interviews with various publications Semenchenko for a long time he said that Semyon Semenchenko- this is a pseudonym that his real name was completely different, but now according to his passport he has become Semyon Semenchenko and will continue to live under this name
Since January 2014 at all public events Semenchenko put on a balaclava, explaining that he was from Donbass and feared for his own life and the life of his family if DPR supporters were able to identify him. He only took off his balaclava on September 1st.
At the end of July 2014, hackers from the Cyberberkut group published their own investigation, in which they claimed that they were able to identify a person hiding under the pseudonym “Semyon Semenchenko.” According to the hackers, he turned out to be Konstantin Igorevich Grishin, owner of the New Satellite Television company. It is worth noting that the date and place of birth of Grishin published by hackers coincided with the date and place of birth of Semenchenko (06/06/1974, Sevastopol).

The former chief of staff of the Donbass battalion, Sergei Eremin, in an interview with Obozrevatel on September 4, 2014, said that when he first met him, in February 2014, Semyon called himself Konstantin.
At a press conference organized by Obozrevatel on September 7, 2014, former battalion fighter Viktor Kondratyuk said that his real name Semyon Semenchenko- Konstantin Grishin. Donetsk journalist Artem Furmanyuk also confirmed that during communication with Semyon in March 2014, Semyon called himself Konstantin.

In an interview with TSN on October 2, 2014, to the question: “Did the relatives know that he was him when Semenchenko put on a balaclava (and took a pseudonym)?” Semyon replied: “Of course (they knew), Cyberberkut had already told them its version. I have been a Russian television star since April. My photographs (from the pro-Ukrainian rally) appeared very quickly... By chance, someone recognized me, and clarification of my biography and demonization of my personality began.” Thus, Semenchenko indirectly confirmed the investigation of hackers (in terms of his last name), which was initially based on a photo of Konstantin Grishin from a pro-Ukrainian rally and on letters from people who recognized him.

Persecution

Semyon Semenchenko

September 1, 2014 by the prosecutor's office of the self-proclaimed DPR Semyon Semenchenko was put on the wanted list.

Semyon Semenchenko

Married, has four children

Semyon Semenchenko

Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, III degree (2014) - for courage and military merit shown during the liberation of the cities of Artemovsk, Popasnaya, Lisichansk.

Semyon Semenchenko

Unprofessionalism

The former chief of staff of the Donbass battalion, Sergei Eremin, in an interview with Obozrevatel on September 4, 2014, accused Semenchenko of unprofessionalism and excessive populism. According to Eremin, the battalion for Semenchenko is a commercial project; he writes well on Facebook, but is not a military man, and at critical moments he simply withdraws. To promote the battalion, Semenchenko often invited journalists and organized photo sessions. According to Eremin, Semenchenko said: “I understand that television can make someone out of nobody.”

Company commander of the Dnepr battalion, Vladimir Shilov (former Donbass fighter), accused Semenchenko in losses near Karlovka: “In Karlovka, he laid out the route in two days. And he threw practically unarmed people into a meat grinder, while he himself was behind and described everything on Facebook... After that, many turned around and left him, some to Dnepr, some to Shakhtersk.”

At the beginning of September, a press conference was held at UNIAN, at which 15 Donbass fighters criticized Semenchenko. Representatives of 29 media outlets attended the press conference, but not a single story appeared on the screens. A week later, on September 11, 2014, Obozrevatel published a video recording from this press conference, the participants called Semenchenko a PR man who does not understand military affairs, and accused him of excessive casualties.
Present at the press conference were: Victor Kondratyuk (call sign “Pisar”), Oleg Shevchenko (call sign “Seraphim”), Vladimir Babenko (call sign “Fagot”), Victor Degtyarev (call sign “Sensei”), Sergei Povolsky (call sign “Pavel”) , Artem Solobodyanyuk, Alexander Utsenko, Vladimir Shilov, Oleg Dub and others.
Semenchenko, commenting on this conference, said that only 2 active fighters of the Donbass battalion, with the call signs Sensei and Fagot, were present at it. According to Semenchenko, after they heard the lies that were being told about their battalion commander (that is, about him), a fight began.

It should be noted that what Semenchenko said is not true. Fagot and Sensei sat silently throughout the press conference and calmly listened to other participants criticizing Semenchenko. At the end, Fagot took the floor; Almost crying, he said that he came to this press conference not to talk about Semyon, but to ask people for help in freeing his comrades from captivity and delivering the bodies of those killed from near Ilovaisk. Then Sensei (Viktor Degtyarev) together with Fagot (Vladimir Babenko) summed up that Semyon led poorly, unprofessionally, but this should not be made public, since in general, thanks to the efforts of the general staff, the battalion carried out its tasks successfully. This ended the press conference. That is, in fact, all conference participants, including Sensei and Fagot, accused Semenchenko in unprofessionalism.

The disappearance of Alexander Kalashnik

and connection with Semenchenko

On October 15, 2014, in Kyiv, about a dozen people picketed the building of the Presidential Administration, demanding to find the deputy chief of staff of the Donbass battalion, Alexander Kalashnik, who disappeared a month ago. In the story of the TV channel “Ukraine” it was even suggested that Semenchenko himself might be involved in this disappearance, since there was allegedly a conflict between him and the missing person.
According to Nadezhda Maltseva, a friend of the missing man, Alexander Kalashnik regularly performed his duties until September 14 (when he disappeared), but among other things, he was also involved in investigating the financial activities of the battalion.

Semenchenko denied all accusations, but at the same time accused the missing Alexander Kalashnik of disclosing personal information: “he maintained the battalion database, which on September 12 (a couple of days before his disappearance) was published on the Cyberberkut and Russian Spring websites.” According to Semenchenko, after the publication of personal data, the families of soldiers living in separatist territory had to be urgently evacuated. Semenchenko also noted that he himself is interested in finding the missing person and hopes that he will be found soon.
It is worth noting that the personal data of the Donbass battalion fighters was not published by hackers on September 12 (as stated by

Semenchenko is in fact a previously convicted swindler Grishin, who not only has never been an officer (he doesn’t have a higher education either), but also never served in the Armed Forces

On January 30, 2015, the author of these lines sent a request for information to the National Guard - the most ordinary one, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”. The request concerned a unit of the National Guard, which is called the “Donbass battalion” in the media and social networks, and its legendary commander, People’s Deputy of Ukraine Major Semyon Semenchenko, who was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, III degree, for his talent as a commander.

True, at the time of the award, Semyon Igorevich was not a major, but only a captain of the reserve - Avakov awarded the rank of major to the order bearer after the presentation of the award. At the same time, as the National Guard responded to a previous information request, he was awarded the rank of captain in the order of re-certification: when enlisting in the police service, Semenchenko, they say, was a captain-lieutenant of the Ukrainian Navy in the reserve, therefore “captain-lieutenant of the reserve Semenchenko S.I. was recertified with the military rank of captain of the reserve.” Here you go, an extract from the previous response from the National Guard and Avakov’s idea of ​​awarding the hero.

But the question remained unclear: when the living legend of the national liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people became a naval officer, what ship did he serve on, and did he accidentally go on a “round the world” trip? Agree, this is important to know even for the authors of future school textbooks. Therefore, I had to send another request to the National Guard with the following content:

“In order to prepare a television story about the activities of the second special forces battalion of the 1st operational brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, please inform:

1. Who exactly exercised the powers of the commander of the second special purpose battalion of the 1st operational brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine for the period from 05/30/2014 to 08/11/2014 and from 11/24/2014 to this day (last name, first name, patronymic and military or special rank of commanders )?

2. What documents were provided by Semenchenko S.I. in confirmation of his military rank of captain-lieutenant upon enlistment in the National Guard of Ukraine?

Please send the answer to my home address by post within the time limit established by the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”.

The National Guard received the request and even reported in early February 2015 that it was being sent for processing. But there is still no answer. And it won't. Because the hero’s personal file is empty, there are not only no documents conferring on him the primary rank of captain-lieutenant, but even his passport, since Semenchenko is in fact the previously convicted swindler Grishin, not only has he never been an officer (because for this at a minimum, a higher education is required, which Grishin-Semenchenko does not have), but he did not serve in the Armed Forces at all.

Therefore, I will take the trouble to tell you exactly why the National Guard subordinate to the Minister of Internal Affairs Avakov refuses to comply with the requirement of the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”, and who, and most importantly, why, produced false documents for the fraudster.

Disease history"

An unkempt man with unwashed hair, boots on his bare feet, with the smell of fumes and accompanied by a security guard with a face swollen from drunkenness - this is how a famous Ukrainian swindler has recently appeared in public, who has made a brilliant career solely thanks to the virtual absence of a military prosecutor's office in Ukraine.

Actually, it was not he who made the career, they made the career for him. The current People's Deputy of Ukraine, and at that time - Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko, in March 2014, contacted a petty crook from Makeyevka. The rogue's name was Grishin Konstantin Igorevich, born in 1974, identification number 2718504398. He, together with his wife Natalya Olegovna Moskovets, born in 1983, identification code 3037903085, was hiding from creditors to whom he owed considerable sums.

The details of the vigorous entrepreneurial activity of Grishin and his fighting girlfriend are not difficult to establish from numerous court decisions made on claims of both contractors and tax authorities. Actually, Kostya moved to Makeevka from his native Sevastopol, hiding from creditors and tax authorities. Therefore, it is not surprising that our hero’s path to a deputy mandate was not strewn with roses.

A native of Sevastopol, Kostya Grishin, having graduated from high school in 1991, first dreamed of being a naval officer and entered the Black Sea Higher Naval School. Nakhimov. But three months later, the future people's deputy was expelled from the school, as evil tongues say, for stealing a watch from a classmate.

It is not known how, having “excused himself” from the army, in the summer of 1992 Grishin entered a higher educational institution again - this time to the Faculty of Economics and Management of the Sevastopol National Technical University with a correspondence course. But it was not destined to receive a diploma again: three years later, Grishin, who moved to Kyiv and worked as a bartender in the Obolon bar, was arrested on charges of committing a number of crimes - from illegal currency transactions to concealing stolen goods. Convicted by the Leninsky (Starokievsky) District Court of Kyiv, Grishin was released in December 1996 in connection with the amnesty announced on the occasion of the adoption of the new Constitution.

Returning to Sevastopol, Konstantin again took up his old ways, but on a much larger scale. To begin with, he registered Universal-Inkom-Yug LLC, with the help of which he collected 55 thousand dollars from gullible citizens under promises to invest money in highly profitable investment projects. In June 1999, this office was declared bankrupt, and defrauded investors continued to knock on police doors for many years, demanding that Grishin be brought to criminal responsibility.

Also, for a long time, Sevastopol residents spat at the mention of two more companies with the same name - “Mercy Society”, registered by Grishin. Only one was founded in the form of a public organization, and the second - as a charitable foundation.

Grishin's affairs went up, and in 2000 he even ran (albeit unsuccessfully) as a deputy for the Sevastopol City Council. By the way, Grishin ran under pro-Russian and pro-communist slogans. But the most interesting thing is how the scammer explained in his autobiography what he was doing in 1995. As the future legendary battalion commander convinced his Sevastopol voters, in 1994–1995, as a true patriot of the Russian Federation, he fought in Chechnya against the separatists who encroached on the territorial integrity of the great and indivisible Russia. And since Ukrainian citizenship prevented him from joining the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, he allegedly took part in hostilities as part of a partisan detachment organized by the FSB.

When in November 2014, journalists from the “Left Bank” found the “Sevastopol Bulletin” for 2000 and asked the People’s Deputy of Ukraine Semyon Semenchenko to comment on the line from his autobiography that he was part of the so-called “voluntary peacekeeping corps to eliminate the conflict in Chechnya” , the people's choice, without blinking an eye, told a story that cannot but be cited as an example of the phenomenal deceit and exceptional literary talents of our hero:

“1994. I am 20 years old. I studied at Nakhimovka - an educational institution with a special ideology. We were brainwashed - be healthy. Romance, the search for adventure, the desire to fight injustice (and this is exactly how the collapse of the Soviet Union and Chechen separatism were presented to us) brought me to the Caucasus. But it was there that I saw real injustice. It was a tough but fair lesson, an inoculation against Russian imperialism. As a result, I became disillusioned with the ideas that they tried to instill in me, matured, and began to critically understand reality. I made friends among Nokhchi. Without my youthful maximalism and the lessons of Ichkeria, the current Semyon Semenchenko would not exist.”

It is a pity, of course, that the Left Bank journalist, after Grishin-Semenchenko’s tirade, did not ask the people’s representative what kind of “special ideology” was instilled in the cadets at the Ukrainian state educational institution and which of the teachers was “brainwashed”. But Grishin actually wasn’t in any Chechnya. Because during this period he got acquainted with the menu of the Lukyanovsky pre-trial detention center in the capital of Ukraine. And the future battalion commander studied at Nakhimovka for only three months.

What did Grishin K.I have to do? after leaving the pre-trial detention center: he distributed tickets for concerts and sold vegetables. But the creditors did not give rest, demanding that law enforcement agencies initiate criminal proceedings against the fraudster. And they initiated it - for example, on August 20, 2002, case No. 420675 for robbery was opened against Grishin in Simferopol.

Grishin tried to improve his financial affairs with the help of publishing, organizing the release of two pro-Russian leaflets (I dare not call them newspapers), calling for the liquidation of Ukraine and the restoration of the Soviet Union - “Sevastopolsky Vestnik” and “Our Sevastopolskaya Pravda”. But there were few people willing to buy such literature.

Then Grishin registered in May 2006 with the Leninsky District State Administration of Sevastopol as an individual entrepreneur. But scandalous fame ran ahead of him, and a month later our hero decided to fall back to his spiritual roots by moving to Moscow. There, using forged documents, he was accepted into a two-year course in the specialty “Dramaturgy and Television Directing” at the Center for Additional Professional Education (now the Higher Courses of Cinema and Television at the All-Russian State University of Cinematography named after S. Gerasimov). These courses are intended for obtaining a second higher education, and Grishin, as we remember, did not have the first - only prison universities. Therefore, he presented a fake diploma and was thus enrolled in the educational institution.

But Grishin did not complete his studies, and in 2008 he returned to Ukraine, where he again tried to engage in private entrepreneurship - he even received a single tax payer certificate for 2009. But Grishin never paid the single tax, which is why the State Tax Inspectorate in the Leninsky District of Sevastopol was subsequently forced to go to court.

In the Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions, you can familiarize yourself with the decision of the District Administrative Court of Sevastopol dated December 9, 2010 in case No. 2a-3685/10/2770 on the recovery from Grishin of a considerable amount for him at that time - as much as 616 UAH 45 kopecks.

Since personal data is not disclosed in the USRSR, I quote the text of paragraph 2 of the operative part of this decision from the case materials:

“To collect from an individual entrepreneur Konstantin Igorevich Grishin (identification number 2718504398, 99040, Sevastopol, M. Gelovani St., 10, apt. 32; accounts in bank institutions r/s 26000054803058, MFO 324935, SF PJSC CB Privatbank ", Sevastopol) in favor of the state tax inspectorate in the Leninsky district of Sevastopol in the income of the local budget of the Leninsky district of Sevastopol, the debt to the budget for a single tax in the amount of 616.45 UAH."

True, Grishin was not particularly worried about these legal vicissitudes - by that time he had already moved to Donetsk and married Natalya Moskovets, a resident of Makeyevka. Together, the couple went into business installing satellite dishes and providing related services. However, the orders were carried out, let’s say, informally, or on behalf of Grishin’s wife, who also registered as an individual entrepreneur.

It would be possible to talk for a long time and with passion about what Grishin was doing in the Donetsk region - and about the private enterprise “Euroline Company” registered by him in Sevastopol, which, nevertheless, managed to deceive the people in the mining town of Gorlovka, and about the shell company “ New satellite television." But this is not the subject of our study about the business successes of the national hero - in the end, neither his scams nor the criminal cases brought against him, you see, do not represent anything outstanding or unusual for Ukraine. The earnings of the future Semyon Semenchenko are mentioned here only for the sole purpose of explaining that at the time of his acquaintance with Anton Gerashchenko, Kostya Grishin was in terrible debt, since he is a swindler in life, and a loser swindler, and all his adventures ended in failure.

The financial condition of Grishin at the end of 2013 - beginning of 2014 can be evidenced, for example, by this decision of the Kirovsky District Court of Makeevka, Donetsk region dated November 13, 2013 in case No. 268/3130/13-ts on the claim of PJSC "Delta Bank" to Moskovets N.O. on collection of debt under a loan agreement in the amount of 1236 UAH 06 kopecks.

I quote the operative part of the court decision:

“To collect from Natalya Olegovna Moskovets, born March 5, 1983 (identification number 3037903085), in favor of the public joint stock company Delta Bank (current account 29096003953206, MFO 380236, EDRPOU code 34047020) the amount of debt: on the loan - in the amount of 1236, 04 UAH; interest debt - in the amount of 0.02 UAH, and in the total amount - 1236.06 UAH, formed as of June 25, 2013 under the loan agreement No. 003-04130-201010 dated October 20, 2010.”

That is, a person who claims that in April 2014 he created and armed an entire battalion with his own money was not able to repay the loan balance in the amount of 1.2 thousand UAH.

Moreover, in March 2014, Grishin did not have money to pay for a mobile phone. And the MTS Ukraine company also filed a lawsuit against his wife, in whose name the corporate account was issued. Here you go, the decision of the economic court of the Donetsk region dated March 20, 2014 in case No. 905/599/14.

I quote the operative part:

“The claims of the Open Joint Stock Company “MTS Ukraine”, Kiev (USREOU 14333937) to the individual entrepreneur Moskovets Natalya Olegovna, Makeevka, Donetsk region (identification code 3037903085) for the collection of a debt in the amount of 13,439.47 UAH to be satisfied in in full. To recover from an individual entrepreneur Moskovets Natalya Olegovna (86110, Donetsk region, Makeevka, mn Stroitel, 11/59, identification code 3037903085) in favor of the Open Joint Stock Company "MTS Ukraine" (01601, Kiev, Leiptsigskaya St., 15, OKPO 14333937) the amount of debt in the amount of UAH 13,439.47, the cost of paying the court fee in the amount of UAH 1,827.00.”

At the time of this decision in Donetsk, Russian “titushki” had already stormed the regional state administration and the regional prosecutor’s office, killing two participants in the pro-Ukrainian rally. And the future people's deputy Semyon Semenchenko was looking for any income. I went to separatist rallies, hung around in the seized regional state administration, went to the Kiev Maidan, begging money for tickets from friends. Until Fortune smiled on him, and Bogdan Kutepov in March 2014 invited the Donetsk activist (and this is exactly how Grishin introduced himself in Kyiv) to the Hromadsky TV studio.

Kutepov, in fact, came up with the pseudonym Semyon Semenchenko for Grishin. Because Grishin could not appear on television screens under his own name - creditors and victims of numerous scams were looking for him. For the same reason, he pulled on his balaclava mask. Well, since there is only one step from the great to the ridiculous, Grishin’s subsequent acquaintance with Anton Gerashchenko was quite logical.

The 2nd reserve battalion of the National Guard was used by Grishin and Gerashchenko to advertise on social networks and the media accounts opened by swindlers for financial support of the Donbass battalion, which does not exist in the state.

Already at the beginning of May 2014, it became known that the person who signs on social networks as Semyon Semenchenko (the pseudonym invented by Bogdan Kutepov turned out to be surprisingly tenacious) is a petty Donetsk swindler Kostya Grishin, desperate from chronic lack of money, whose wife is wanted by the telecom operator MTS to collect debt for the use of a mobile phone in pursuance of the decision of the Economic Court of the Donetsk region dated March 20, 2014 in case No. 905/599/14.

In search of something to feed his three children, Grishin wandered around the separatist headquarters, took part in the storming of the State Treasury branch in Donetsk on March 3, 2014, and hung around the regional state administration seized by the Gubarevites. For example, in this video of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, released on March 3, 2014, the future MP is visible from the 11th to the 22nd second.

However, in the same way, the unemployed Grishin went to the Kiev Maidan and wandered among the participants in pro-Ukrainian rallies in Donetsk, from time to time getting caught on camera.

It is unlikely that any ideological justification can be found here, although while living in Sevastopol, Grishin positioned himself as a Russian nationalist, and it was under pro-Russian and pro-communist slogans that he ran for the Sevastopol City Council in 2000. Everything was simpler: “a gentleman in search of a chervonets” was looking for where to earn at least some penny.

Probably, two years of studying in Moscow at directing courses benefited the talented swindler. Having found a “gold mine” thanks to Gerashchenko, Grishin, together with his then comrades-in-arms - first of all, the current People’s Deputy of Ukraine Natalya Veselova - created a Facebook page with stories about the non-existent “territorial defense battalion of the Donetsk region “Donbass”. Indicating, of course, the account numbers to which donations should be transferred.

Of course, there was no “Donbass” battalion. Territorial defense battalions are units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. As Veselova later assured, who, at the request of the rogue, created a fake page for a fake battalion, she had no idea that Semyon Semenchenko was a previously convicted fraudster who collected money by advertising himself with staged scenes of the exploits of a pseudo-battalion.

Fake IDs and the real thing

No matter how talented the future legendary battalion commander was, it was other people who brought the Semyon Semenchenko project to wider horizons - Anton Gerashchenko and Arsen Avakov.

On May 30, 2014, as part of military unit 3027 of the National Guard of Ukraine (as the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine are now called), based in the village. New Petrivtsi, Vyshgorod district, Kyiv region, the 2nd special purpose battalion was formed. This special purpose consisted in the fact that reservists were enrolled in the battalion - that is, citizens who wanted to restore or gain skills in military occupational specialties.

In essence, “reserve battalions” are something like the Soviet DOSAAF, and the very concept of a reservist was introduced by the law of March 17, 2014, which introduced innovations to the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service.” Namely, inserted article 26-1 appeared, determining that:

“Service in the military reserve is introduced for the purpose of systematic training of reservists for manning the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations in peacetime and wartime by acquiring and maintaining at the proper level skills and abilities in a military specialty... Reservists are not classified as employed population in Ukraine and have the right, in accordance with employment legislation, to be recognized as unemployed and registered with the state employment service as job seekers, ready and able to take up suitable work.”

This 2nd reserve battalion was used by Grishin and Gerashchenko to advertise on social networks and the media accounts opened by swindlers for financial support of the non-existent “territorial defense battalion of the Donetsk region “Donbass” in the state.

Grishin, who had nothing to do with the National Guard, was, by order of Avakov, allowed into the territory of military unit 3027, where he met people who wanted to enlist in the much-advertised battalion. At the same time, Grishin introduced himself as the commander of military unit No. 3027, Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko. If the swindler did not see how to use this person for his needs, he sent him to register with the real commander of the military unit - Vladimir Musienko. But in most cases, Grishin personally “recruited”, signed the “order” and issued a false “certificate” with the “right to carry a service weapon,” which he certified with a false seal.

Grishin used these people to shoot advertising videos, thanks to which he collected colossal money and a fleet of luxury cars.

This is what a typical fake ID of a fighter from the non-existent Donbass battalion looks like. A certificate signed by “the commander of military unit 3027, Lieutenant Colonel S. Semenchenko,” issued to a shooter allegedly enrolled in military service “by order of the commander of military unit 3027 dated June 19, 2014 No. 24.” Below is a “permit to carry a service weapon” indicating the number of the AKS machine gun, certified by a false seal.

It didn’t even occur to the people who received these “certificates” that battalions are not legal entities and cannot have seals, that the seals must indicate the EDRPOU code, and the symbols of state institutions are approved by resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. And who could suspect the scale of the scam if all this took place on the territory of a military unit of the National Guard, where outsiders could not enter?

True, if the seal was fake, then the weapon was real. In this connection, a completely logical question arises for Avakov and Gerashchenko: where did Grishin get the AKSs that he distributed on the territory of military unit 3027 to the citizens he deceived, thinking that they had been accepted into the ranks of the National Guard? And aren’t these “leftist” weapons from the warehouses of the National Guard? In this case, it would also be nice to find out exactly how many “barrels” were distributed, how many were sold and to whom exactly. This is all the easier to do since the fake IDs bear the real serial numbers of the machines.

The second set of questions concerns the legal status of people who were convinced that they were fighting as part of military unit 3027 of the National Guard of Ukraine under the leadership of “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko.” It is clear that they were victims of fraud committed on the territory of a military unit. But this does not make them military personnel. And now the question arises: how could civilians, even if deceived by Grishin, end up in a combat zone? And who will now pay financial assistance to the relatives of those killed with false IDs of a National Guard soldier?

By the way, in general it would be nice to figure out how the National Guard reservists ended up in the zone of the anti-terrorist operation, which, according to the law, was carried out only by the Anti-Terrorism Center of the SBU. Because in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the Fight against Terrorism,” neither the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, nor the National Guard subordinate to it, nor the Armed Forces of Ukraine have anything to do with the ATO, and only second their employees and military personnel, along with equipment, to the subordination of the first deputy chairman of the SBU. Therefore, I would like the Security Service of Ukraine to explain how the National Guard reservists ended up at its disposal, and what those with false IDs issued by “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” were doing among them.

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that it was impossible for “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” to be accepted into the National Guard - due to his past criminal record. And although it has long been extinguished, the very fact that Grishin was convicted makes it impossible for him to serve in the police or the National Guard of Ukraine. What position could a citizen with a secondary education who had not previously served a day in the army be hired for? Perhaps only an ordinary soldier.

That is why Grishin had to hide his real name, since any local police officer could instantly “punch through” his biography from the file cabinet of the Information Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. For the same reason - a balaclava mask. Because the characteristic appearance of “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” was very well known both to the deceived residents of Sevastopol and to his creditors in Donetsk.

As volunteers later said, who were sure that they were helping the Donbass battalion, the behavior of “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” at first did not arouse any suspicion in them precisely because the distribution of certificates and weapons took place outside the fence of the military unit, where Semenchenko felt at home. Natalya Veselova even founded a charitable foundation to raise funds and opened accounts in her name at Privatbank. It’s just that she had the imprudence to indicate Grishin’s number as one of the contact numbers when opening accounts. This ultimately led to the fact that in January 2015 the fraudster changed his PIN code (an SMS with the new code was sent to his phone) and withdrew all the money collected by the volunteers in cash through ATMs.

But at first, the gullible people believed that Semyon Semenchenko was a national hero. The first suspicions crept in in July 2014, when it became known that the so-called battalion commander, instead of being at the front, was leading the life of a socialite and actively collecting money in cash - in particular, he took a large sum from the then chairman of the Donetsk regional state administration Sergei Taruta, which appropriated.

Then rumors spread that Grishin took $300 thousand from US citizen Mark Paslavsky, allegedly to purchase drones for the needs of the National Guard, and after Mark began to demand reporting for the funds spent, he was shot in the back.

Grishin, who back in March 2014 could not pay for the phone and was hiding from creditors with his wife, a month after the start of fundraising, he was already driving prestigious foreign cars, dining in restaurants and pouring out cash in front of the soldiers, demonstrating what a million hryvnia was. But most of the scandals were around the unclear legal status of the fighters. Actually, there were two battalions - the official one, as part of military unit 3027 under the command of the legal commander, and the people who were accepted into the service by “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” and who also considered themselves military personnel, had weapons and dreamed of seeing their leader not on TV, but in the zone ATO.

At the same time, neither one nor the other received monetary support. Instead, stories regularly surfaced about how some incomprehensible guard of the “battalion commander” robbed an enterprise, cut up and sold a small plant for scrap metal, shook money out of a businessman, or took away an expensive car from a resident of the front-line zone.

Donations to the Army: Foreign Travel, Carefree Life and Personal Security

When in August 2014 Avakov decided to put his eggs in different baskets and make Grishin a people’s deputy, a problem arose - how could the “battalion commander” create a beautiful biography, taking into account the fact that 8 months spent in Lukyanovsky pre-trial detention center No. 13, a guilty verdict and repeated cases of prosecution criminal liability completely excluded the possibility of enlisting him in the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Then we did the following. On August 11, 2014, it was ordered to enlist Grishin in the National Guard without presenting any document, even without a passport - “with words.” Konstantin came to the personnel department and called himself Semenchenko Semyon Igorevich, a retired captain-lieutenant of the Ukrainian Navy. These data, without any documentary evidence, were entered into a personal file and sent for a special check for past convictions.

The response from the Information Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine came instantly: Semen Igorevich Semenchenko, born in 1974, is not listed in the file index of persons brought to criminal liability. And this is the holy truth. Because Konstantin Igorevich Grishin, born in 1974, drank the prison gruel. It is clear that no one sent a request to the Ministry of Defense regarding the existence of “Lieutenant-Captain Semenchenko”. Not to mention the fact that no one even checked whether the new soldier was accidentally listed as a private entrepreneur? Meanwhile, Grishin handed over the certificate of an individual entrepreneur only on November 24, 2014 in connection with his election as a people’s deputy of Ukraine on the party list of the notorious “Samopomich”.

After this, by order of Avakov, the sea captain-lieutenant was immediately recertified as a land captain and appointed commander of the 2nd special battalion of military unit 3027 with the issuance of the corresponding service certificate. This was precisely at the moment when dozens of people who were “recruited into service” by the so-called “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” entered Ilovaisk. Only the legendary battalion commander was not with them. Because he was just registering for service in the National Guard, where he received a false document indicating that he had an officer rank.

Having received the certificate of a captain of the National Guard on August 11, 2014, Grishin the next day, August 12, arrived at the Vyshgorod regional department of the State Migration Service and, on the basis of this certificate, received a new passport of the ST series under number 432098 in the name of Semen Igorevich Semenchenko. Why in Vyshgorod? Because the passport database of the Donetsk region, where Grishin was registered, was lost after the militants seized administrative buildings in the regional center, as was the passport database of Sevastopol, where Grishin was once issued a passport.

Therefore, Grishin could only obtain a new passport in case of losing his old one or changing his last name at his place of official residence or work with the presentation of additional identification documents.

Therefore, the fraudster could receive a new passport only after he, with a new last name, but without a passport, was accepted into the National Guard - on the basis of a false service ID at the location of military unit 3027.

And already on August 20, 2014, Avakov submitted a proposal to the President of Ukraine to award the previously convicted swindler, who served for only 8 days, with the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, III degree. After which he awarded the swindler with a secondary education, who had never served in the army at all, the rank of major.

Now it was possible to run for office. Moreover, Grishin had enough money not only for an election campaign, a carefree life and foreign voyages, but even to hire personal security.

By the way, as the Main Directorate of the National Guard of Ukraine responded to my request, military unit 3027 never received funds or cars from citizens for the needs of the 2nd Special Purpose Battalion. The battalion itself is not a legal entity, has neither its own seal nor its own account in banking institutions. That is, Grishin-Semenchenko stupidly misappropriated the donations. However, I cannot believe that the lion’s share of donations did not go to Avakov and Gerashchenko - friendship with the Minister of Internal Affairs and his faithful adviser is usually expensive.

Having received a new internal passport on August 12, Grishin-Semenchenko immediately corrected it for a new surname and a foreign one. And already on September 19, 2014, the order bearer was collecting money from gullible Diaspora residents in the United States.

A completely logical question: how did the serviceman receive an American visa, with what funds did he fly overseas, and who let him travel from his place of service? Here is the answer from the Main Directorate of the National Guard: “For the entire period of his service in the military reserve, Major Semenchenko Semyon Igorevich was not granted leave; the Main Directorate of the National Guard of Ukraine does not have information about the funds for which the trip to the United States of America was carried out. Officials of the Main Directorate of the National Guard of Ukraine did not provide assistance to citizen Semenchenko Semyon Igorevich in obtaining an entry visa to the United States of America.”

It is interesting in this case how the US Embassy issued a visa without a certificate from the place of service, without a certificate of income and without confirmation that citizen Semenchenko is in the United States during his legal leave, during which he will maintain a place of work in Ukraine.

By the way, what documents did Grishin-Semenchenko provide to the US Embassy to confirm his solvency - was it really statements from the account into which charitable assistance was collected? And did he tell you in the questionnaire about the 8 months spent in a pre-trial detention center, the conviction and the non-repaid loans?

I have reason to assert that Grishin, of course, hid the details of his turbulent biography from the US Embassy.

However, Major Semencheko’s military career turned out to be short - on November 24, 2014, he was dismissed from the post of commander of the 2nd battalion of the regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine at his own request. But questions remain. First of all - to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

Actually, there are three questions. First: when exactly, based on the facts stated above, will criminal proceedings be opened, and the officials of the National Guard of Ukraine, who allowed a previously convicted swindler into the territory of a military unit, issued him an officer’s certificate and contributed to the theft of funds from gullible citizens, will be brought to criminal liability?

The second question: when exactly will a proposal to lift parliamentary immunity from Semyon Semenchenko and Anton Gerashchenko be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine?

And finally, the third question: what exactly is the prosecutor’s office doing to posthumously grant the status of combatants to those citizens who, having been deceived by “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko,” mistakenly believed themselves to be fighters of the National Guard and died during the anti-terrorist operation?

Ctrl Enter

Noticed osh Y bku Select text and click Ctrl+Enter

Semenchenko Semyon Igorevich is a Ukrainian military man, former lieutenant of the Ukrainian Navy, commander of the Donbass special forces battalion, formed from volunteers. Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the VIII convocation.

Biography

Semyon Semenchenko was born on June 6, 1974 in Sevastopol.

According to Semenchenko himself, “he is Russian, his wife is Ukrainian, his children are Ukrainians.”

Family: Married.

Wife - Natalya Moskovets.

Has four children.

On the Ukrainian TV channel "STB" on September 5, 2014, Semenchenko said that his close relatives: his mother, father and brother, living in Crimea, supported the annexation of Crimea to Russia and did not want to leave. Semenchenko was worried about their safety and sent battalion soldiers to Crimea to take their relatives out. According to Semenchenko, he lived half his life in Crimea, half in Donbass, where his wife is from. His children were also born in Donbass. He was a private entrepreneur, participated in the 1st and 2nd Maidan. I was careful because I was worried about my business and family.

Education:

On May 15, 2014, in an interview with The Guardian, Semenchenko said that he was educated as a film director; on the Central Election Commission website, the information about the candidate for people's deputies of Ukraine indicates that Semenchenko has only a secondary education.

On September 5, 2014, Moskovsky Komsomolets published an article claiming that Semyon Semenchenko studied at the Moscow VGIK. Gerasimov from 2006 to 2008, in Yuri Belenky’s courses in the “Dramaturgy and Television Directing” workshop. Upon completion of his studies, he did not complete his thesis work and did not receive a diploma.

Activities and career:

On May 27, 2014, Semyon Semenchenko told Forbes journalists that this was his pseudonym, that in the past he was a lieutenant commander of the Ukrainian Navy, and after leaving the navy he became an entrepreneur.

On May 30, 2014, in an interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda, Semyon noted that before the war he was an entrepreneur and participated in the organization of Euromaidan in Donetsk.

On September 14, 2014, in an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel “24”, Semenchenko said that initially he had a different last name: “Semyon Semenchenko was a pseudonym, my last name was completely different, but now (according to my passport) I am Semyon Semenchenko... in fact, I Now I already feel like Semyon Semenchenko, this name has grown with me, and I will continue to be like that.” According to Semenchenko, in the past, in the 90s, he was the editor of two newspapers, the head of a charitable foundation, the head of public organizations, was engaged in entrepreneurial activities, tried to realize himself in cinema, participated in the first and second Maidan, and after the victory of the Maidan in Kiev he returned to Donetsk - created local self-defense to counter the “Russian Spring”.

• In April 2014, to counter the armed groups of supporters of the so-called. Donetsk People's Republic Semenchenko formed the Donbass battalion from residents of Ukraine. On April 20, the fighters received the necessary permission to “work” from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

Titles and awards:

• On September 1, 2014, in the Dnepropetrovsk administration, Semenchenko took off his balaclava, stating that “I was never afraid, I was afraid for my family, now she is safe and I am not afraid.” On the same day, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov awarded him the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, III degree - for courage and military merit shown during the liberation of the cities of Artemovsk, Popasnaya, Lisichansk.

• On October 2, 2014, in an interview with TSN, Semenchenko said that he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Operational case

In an interview with the Ukrainian publication “Ostrov” on September 30, 2014, Semenchenko said the following about himself: “my last name was not originally Semenchenko and it would be stupid if I, having a family and children, fought under my real last name. However, the person who is now useful society needs and the country needs - this is Semyon Semenchenko. I am him. I was born in Sevastopol, in 1974. My mother is Ukrainian, my father is Russian. My wife is also Ukrainian. I studied at four educational institutions. I left the military school, did not graduate . Studied finance and credit. Received education at the Institute of Cinematography in Moscow (VGIK) - dropped out, did not pass the thesis. I was depressed by the quality of Russian education, everything is commercialized there. Fourth (educational institution) - I studied cinematography. All my life I have been self-educated . Never worked for anyone, that is, initially he worked only for himself. He was a director of enterprises. He was a private entrepreneur. He was the editor of two newspapers: “Sevastopolsky Vestnik” and “Our Sevastopolskaya Pravda” - it was a counter-newspaper - they fought against the communists in the nineties. He was the creator and director of the Charitable Foundation and a participant in two Maidans - 2004 and 2013. I tried to organize the “Will of the People” movement - we were demolishing the fences that fence off the beaches, looking for Mr. Lozinsky (BYuT deputy convicted of murder) and even caught him, or rather, we participated, let’s say, in this story. But that movement quickly died out, because there were no such tectonic faults in society as there are now... I came to the Donbass in 2000, all my children were born in the Donbass - in Makeyevka and Donetsk. My apartment has now been burned down, my office has been burned down."

On the ICTV channel on October 10, 2014, Semenchenko said that his name was originally Konstantin Grishin, he was born in Sevastopol, graduated from the Sevastopol Military School, and was engaged in entrepreneurial activities. He was the founder and editor of two newspapers: Sevastopolsky Vestnik and Our Sevastopolskaya Pravda. In the early 2000s, he moved to Donetsk, worked on security systems, installed satellite television, and was a fairly wealthy person. In 2014, I was forced to move to Kyiv with my entire family. Semyon's father, a naval officer, did not want to leave and remained in Sevastopol. The story also featured Semyon's wife, Natalya Moskovets.

According to the Russian TV channel Dozhd, Semyon Semenchenko and his wife Natalya Moskovets were the owners of the Regional Courier Service company, which operated under the New Satellite Television brand. The company's annual turnover was $1.5 million, monthly revenue 1 million hryvnia. The company was engaged in the installation and maintenance of satellite equipment in the Donetsk region. In the spring of 2014, the couple closed the company and moved to Kyiv. The TV channel provides such data referring to a former employee of the company, Evgeniy Maksimenko.

A teacher at the Moscow VGIK - Vitaly Kalinin, in the story of "Rain" said that he clearly remembers his former student Semyon Semenchenko - Konstantin Grishin; during his studies Semyon was very fond of writing screenplays and often brought these works for inspection. According to the Dozhd TV channel, Semenchenko began using pseudonyms long before the events in eastern Ukraine, when he was still doing business; in particular, Semenchenko introduced himself to his employees as Andrey Semenovich.

In interviews with various publications, Semenchenko said for a long time that Semyon Semenchenko is a pseudonym, that his real name was completely different, but now, according to his passport, he has become Semyon Semenchenko and will continue to live under that name.

Since January 2014, Semenchenko has worn a balaclava at all public events, explaining that he is from Donbass and fears for his own life and the life of his family if DPR supporters are able to identify him. He only took off his balaclava on September 1st.

At the end of July 2014, hackers from the Cyberberkut group published their own investigation, in which they claimed that they were able to identify a person hiding under the pseudonym “Semyon Semenchenko.” According to the hackers, he turned out to be Konstantin Igorevich Grishin, owner of the New Satellite Television company. It is worth noting that the date and place of birth of Grishin published by hackers coincided with the date and place of birth of Semenchenko (06/06/1974, Sevastopol).

The former chief of staff of the Donbass battalion, Sergei Eremin, in an interview with Observer on September 4, 2014, said that when he first met Semenchenko in February 2014, Semyon called himself Konstantin.

At a press conference organized by Obozrevatel on September 7, 2014, former battalion fighter Viktor Kondratyuk said that Semenchenko’s real name is Konstantin Grishin. Donetsk journalist Artem Furmanyuk also confirmed that during communication with Semyon in March 2014, Semyon called himself Konstantin.

In an interview with TSN on October 2, 2014, when asked whether his relatives knew that he was him when Semenchenko put on a balaclava (and took a pseudonym), Semyon replied: “of course (they knew), “cyberberkut” told them their version "I've already told you. I've been a star on Russian television since April. My photographs (from a pro-Ukrainian rally) very quickly appeared... By chance, someone recognized me, and the clarification of my biography and the demonization of my personality began." Thus, Semenchenko indirectly confirmed the investigation of hackers (in terms of his last name), which was initially based on a photo of Konstantin Grishin from a pro-Ukrainian rally and on letters from people who recognized him.

In the “Insider” program on the Ukrainian TV channel “ICTV” on October 10, 2014, Semenchenko admitted for the first time that before he changed his name, his name was Konstantin Grishin.

On September 1, 2014, the prosecutor's office of the self-proclaimed DPR put Semyon Semenchenko on the wanted list.

In September 2014, allegedly former fighters of the Donbass battalion accused Semyon Semenchenko of unprofessionalism and excessive populism and his own PR.

On October 15, 2014, in Kyiv, about a dozen people picketed the building of the Presidential Administration, demanding to find the deputy chief of staff of the Donbass battalion, Alexander Kalashnik, who disappeared a month ago. In the story of the TV channel "Ukraine" it was even suggested that Semenchenko himself might be involved in this disappearance, since there was allegedly a conflict between him and the missing person.

According to Nadezhda Maltseva, a friend of the missing man, Alexander Kalashnik regularly performed his duties until September 14 (when he disappeared), but among other things, he was also involved in investigating the financial activities of the battalion.

Semenchenko denied all accusations, but at the same time accused the missing Alexander Kalashnik of disclosing personal information: “he maintained the battalion database, which on September 12 (a couple of days before his disappearance) was published on the Cyberberkut and Russian Spring websites.” Semenchenko, after the publication of personal data, had to urgently evacuate the families of soldiers living in the territory of the separatists. Semenchenko also noted that he himself is interested in finding the missing person and hopes that he will be found soon.

Battalion "Donbass"

In mid-April 2014, to fight the militants of the self-proclaimed so-called. "Donetsk People's Republic" Semenchenko formed a people's militia detachment in the Donetsk region from citizens of Ukraine and proposed to call it the "Donbass" battalion. However, the leaders of the Donetsk regional state administration did not support Semenchenko’s initiative. Therefore, the activists relocated to the territory of the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, where, thanks to the support of its leadership, they were able to form their own unit in the status of the Donbass-1 company of the National Defense Regiment of the Dnipropetrovsk region. As Semenchenko noted: “We encountered serious opposition in our region. The governor, agreeing in words, did nothing. Only in the neighboring region were we able to form thanks to Kolomoisky and his deputies, Filatov and Korban.” Volunteer training was carried out in one of the villages on the border of the Dnepropetrovsk and Donetsk regions on the territory of a former machine and tractor station.

According to Semyon Semenchenko, he and his comrades received their first military weapons by attacking a terrorist-controlled checkpoint on May 1. Subsequently, before being included in the National Guard, the battalion was armed with light small arms, RGDs and sniper rifles.

At the end of May, on the basis of the 1st company of the growing “Donbass”, a special-purpose battalion of reservists of the National Guard of Ukraine was formed. Having led the battalion, Semenchenko received the rank of captain of the NSU reserve.

At the beginning of June 2014, the NSU reserve battalion conducted training and combat coordination at the training ground of the National Guard of Ukraine near the village of Novye Petrivtsi, Vyshgorod district, Kiev region. Of the 630 Donbass fighters, 460 guardsmen were selected; the rest joined the ranks of the 24th territorial defense battalion "Aidar" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

On June 29, Semenchenko arrived in Kyiv demanding an end to the truce and the introduction of martial law. He held a demonstration near the Presidential Administration and spoke from the Maidan stage.

On August 19, during the cleansing, Ilovaiskaya, being in the front ranks, was wounded and underwent surgery in Dnepropetrovsk. Continued to coordinate the functioning of the Donbass battalion during treatment.

At the end of August 2014, Semenchenko called on the leaders of local self-defense units, patriotic associations and youth paramilitary organizations throughout Ukraine to begin organizing an all-Ukrainian partisan movement: “The homeland is in danger! And I urge everyone who cares about it to start uniting and preparing for a people’s war - the only a means capable of not only stopping the horde, but also sweeping it to hell from historical reality."

On September 8, 2014, battalion commander Semenchenko joined the idea of ​​​​creating a new public association - the “Ukrainian Military Organization”: “42 organizations expressed their readiness to join the initiative, which was then called the “Partisan Movement”, and is now receiving a new, broader content.”

Political activity

Participated in the First and Second Maidans.

At the extraordinary parliamentary elections of 2014, battalion commander Semenchenko decided to run for the party of the Lviv politician, the mayor of Lvov Andrei Sadovyi - "The Samopomich Association." On September 12, 2014, the electoral lists of "Samopomich" were published, in which the battalion commander appears at number "2", and Andrei Sadovyi - number 50. On the air of Espreso.TV, the battalion commander explained the reasons for his decision to go into “big politics”: "There are things that need to be done now before the elections to the Rada. This is, first of all, the situation with the wounded, prisoners, people who died. Most often, situations occur when people who are captured take a very long time to be released. There is a very large chain approvals. I think that according to the "Minsk agreements" these people should already be free. Now we will slowly organize public pressure. No shouting, no rallies together with mothers and wives. So that they give us an account of how this is happening.".

One of the points of Semenchenko’s program is the development of the “Ukrainian Military Organization” he created, which mobilizes the public to facilitate the process of forming a unified system of territorial defense in Ukraine.

On September 14, 2014, Semyon Semenchenko, as part of the delegation of the “Ukrainian Military Organization,” arrived in the United States of America, where he met with members of Congress, representatives of the Pentagon, the American public and the Ukrainian diaspora. Ways of helping the United States in creating a territorial defense system in Ukraine were discussed.

Titles, ranks, regalia

First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on National Security and Defense

The biography of Semyon Semenchenko seems rather ambiguous. Some people consider him a hero of Ukraine, others consider him a swindler or even an extremist. Indeed, Semyon Semenchenko has quite a lot of dark spots in his track record. The biography of this military, political and public figure of Ukraine will be the subject of our close study.

Question about the name

Let's find out what Semyon Semenchenko was named at birth. The biography reveals the real name of this person. According to our hero’s own admission, given in one of his interviews, Semyon Semenchenko is a pseudonym. The serviceman said the main reason for using it was the desire to protect relatives.

He never directly stated his real name. However, members of the Cyberberkut hacker association claimed that his real name was Konstantin Grishin. Later this information was confirmed by one of the fighters of the Donbass battalion. Thus, Konstantin Grishin is Semyon Semenchenko. The biography of this person is now completely connected with the last name, since he made the appropriate changes in the form prescribed by law, even in his passport.

Nationality

But if Konstantin Grishin is the real name of Semyon Semenchenko, then the question arises about his nationality. Semenchenko is a Ukrainian surname, but Grishin is not. So who is Semyon Semenchenko’s nationality?

The commander of the Donbass battalion never hid the fact that he was Russian by nationality and was born in Sevastopol.

Life before the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine

The biography of Semyon Semenchenko is divided into two main periods: before the start of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and after it. The fighting in Donbass became the turning point after which this man gained general fame. It was then that Konstantin Grishin became Semyon Semenchenko.

Konstantin Igorevich Grishin was born in June 1974 in Sevastopol. He graduated from school in his hometown. I entered the Black Sea School named after. Nakhimov, but then was forced to transfer to SNTU (technical university), which, however, he also did not graduate from. From 2006 to 2008, he was a student at Moscow VGIK in the field of film directing, but did not pass his thesis. Thus, the biography of Semyon Semenchenko indicates that he currently has only a complete secondary education.

Since 1998, he worked as editor-in-chief of the Sevastopolsky Vestnik publication. This period of his life ended in 2001. From that moment until 2004, he held the position of director at one of the commercial enterprises. After that, having moved from Crimea to Donetsk, he opened his own business.

In addition, Konstantin Grishin (Semyon Semenchenko) actively took part in public life. His biography shows that from 1998 to 2004 he led a large public association and took part in the 2004 Maidan.

War in Donbass

The biography of Semyon Semenchenko speaks of fundamental changes in his life after the outbreak of hostilities in the Donbass in 2014.

At the beginning of the same year, Konstantin Grishin was an active participant in Euromaidan. When hostilities began in the Donbass in April, Semyon Semenchenko (from that time on he called himself that) organized the Donbass territorial battalion, consisting mainly of local residents. According to Semenchenko himself, the Ukrainian oligarch contributed to the material support of this formation, and the base was initially located in Dnepropetrovsk.

Until August 2014, the soldiers of the volunteer battalion managed to take control of a number of settlements in the Donetsk region, previously controlled by the DPR.

During this period of activity, Konstantin Grishin did not advertise information about his past, and hid his face under a balaclava to protect his family. The biography of Semyon Semenchenko remained a mystery to the general public. Photos of the mysterious commander of the Donbass battalion in black camouflage spread throughout the Ukrainian media.

Deputyship

While still the commander of the Donbass battalion, Semyon Semenchenko decided to reveal his face, which happened on September 1, 2014 in Dnepropetrovsk. This was primarily due to the decision to begin active political activity. Already on September 25, he registered as a candidate for deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the Samopomich party, where he was number two. According to the results of the elections held at the end of October, the Samopomich party unexpectedly gained almost 11% of the total votes, gaining 32 seats in parliament.

Having become a people's deputy of Ukraine, Semyon Semenchenko, according to the country's legislation, was forced to leave leadership of the Donbass battalion. He was discharged from military service with the rank of captain.

Scandals

The biography of Semyon Semenchenko is associated with numerous scandals, which are often provoked by a lack of information about this person, speculation, although there are quite a lot of real facts.

The life of Konstantin Grishin before the outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine remains a dark spot. Many ill-wishers claim that at this time he was involved in large-scale financial scams and even received a prison sentence.

Quite a stir was caused by his deprivation of the captain's rank in December 2015 and his transfer to a reserve soldier. Allegedly, this decision is related to the illegal acquisition of the title, and Semenchenko’s supporters explain this by political repression.

In addition, interviews with fighters became famous, some of whom claimed that the actions of Semyon Semenchenko contributed to the death of a large number of personnel of the combat unit entrusted to him near Ilovaisk. Semenchenko was criticized for other military miscalculations, and sometimes he was even accused of deliberate actions.

Family

Semyon Semenchenko has living parents and a brother living in Crimea. They remained on the peninsula after it was annexed by Russia.

Semyon Semenchenko is married to a native of Donbass, Natalya Moskovets (from Makeevka), who is Ukrainian by nationality. Four children were born in this marriage. The eldest son Gregory turned 8 years old. In addition, there are sons Mikhail and Artem, as well as a daughter.

general characteristics

We found out who Semyon Semenchenko is. The biography, nationality and activities of the person were discussed in the article. We also learned about his real name.

It is extremely difficult to give an impartial assessment of the life and activities of this person, since many of the motives and details of his actions remain a mystery, and a significant part of the biography has many dark places and discrepancies. Therefore, it is quite expected that most people relate to Semyon Semenchenko, first of all, according to their political views.

However, perhaps the future will lift the curtain on some more mysteries that shroud the biography of this man.

On January 30, 2015, the author of these lines sent a request for information to the National Guard - the most ordinary one, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”. The request concerned a unit of the National Guard, which is called the “Donbass battalion” in the media and social networks, and its legendary commander, People’s Deputy of Ukraine Major Semyon Semenchenko, who was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, III degree, for his talent as a commander.

True, at the time of the award, Semyon Igorevich was not a major, but only a captain of the reserve - Avakov awarded the rank of major to the order bearer after the presentation of the award. At the same time, as the National Guard responded to a previous information request, he was awarded the rank of captain in the order of re-certification: when enlisting in the police service, Semenchenko, they say, was a captain-lieutenant of the Ukrainian Navy in the reserve, therefore “captain-lieutenant of the reserve Semenchenko S.I. was recertified with the military rank of captain of the reserve.” Here you go, an extract from the previous response from the National Guard and Avakov’s idea of ​​awarding the hero.

But the question remained unclear: when the living legend of the national liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people became a naval officer, what ship did he serve on, and did he accidentally go on a “round the world” trip? Agree, this is important to know even for the authors of future school history textbooks. Therefore, I had to send another request to the National Guard with the following content:

“In order to prepare a television story about the activities of the second special forces battalion of the 1st operational brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, please inform:

1. Who exactly exercised the powers of the commander of the second special purpose battalion of the 1st operational brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine for the period from 05/30/2014 to 08/11/2014 and from 11/24/2014 to this day (last name, first name, patronymic and military or special rank of commanders )?

2. What documents were provided by Semenchenko S.I. in confirmation of his military rank of captain-lieutenant upon enlistment in the National Guard of Ukraine?

Please send the answer to my home address by post within the time limit established by the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”.

The National Guard received the request and even reported in early February 2015 that it was being sent for processing. But there is still no answer. And it won't. Because the hero’s personal file is empty, there are not only no documents conferring on him the primary rank of captain-lieutenant, but even his passport, since Semenchenko is in fact the previously convicted swindler Grishin, not only has he never been an officer (because for this at a minimum, a higher education is required, which Grishin-Semenchenko does not have), but he did not serve in the Armed Forces at all.

Therefore, I will take the trouble to tell you exactly why the National Guard subordinate to the Minister of Internal Affairs Avakov refuses to comply with the requirement of the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”, and who, and most importantly, why, produced false documents for the fraudster.

Disease history"

An unkempt man with unwashed hair, boots on his bare feet, with the smell of fumes and accompanied by a security guard with a face swollen from drunkenness - this is how a famous Ukrainian swindler has recently appeared in public, who has made a brilliant career solely thanks to the virtual absence of a military prosecutor's office in Ukraine.

Actually, it was not he who made the career, they made the career for him. The current People's Deputy of Ukraine, and at that time - Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko, in March 2014, contacted a petty crook from Makeyevka. The rogue's name was Grishin Konstantin Igorevich, born in 1974, identification number 2718504398. He, together with his wife Natalya Olegovna Moskovets, born in 1983, identification code 3037903085, was hiding from creditors to whom he owed considerable sums.

The details of the vigorous entrepreneurial activity of Grishin and his fighting girlfriend are not difficult to establish from numerous court decisions made on claims of both contractors and tax authorities. Actually, Kostya moved to Makeevka from his native Sevastopol, hiding from creditors and tax authorities. Therefore, it is not surprising that our hero’s path to a deputy mandate was not strewn with roses.

A native of Sevastopol, Kostya Grishin, having graduated from high school in 1991, first dreamed of being a naval officer and entered the Black Sea Higher Naval School. Nakhimov. But three months later, the future people's deputy was expelled from the school, as evil tongues say, for stealing a watch from a classmate.

It is not known how, having “excused himself” from the army, in the summer of 1992 Grishin entered a higher educational institution again - this time to the Faculty of Economics and Management of the Sevastopol National Technical University with a correspondence course. But it was not destined to receive a diploma again: three years later, Grishin, who worked as a bartender at the Obolon bar, was arrested on charges of committing a number of crimes - from illegal currency transactions to concealing stolen goods. Convicted by the Leninsky District Court of Sevastopol, Grishin was released in December 1996 in connection with the amnesty announced on the occasion of the adoption of the new Constitution.

Having been released, Konstantin again took up his old ways, but on a much larger scale. To begin with, he registered Universal-Inkom-Yug LLC, with the help of which he collected 55 thousand dollars from gullible citizens under promises to invest money in highly profitable investment projects. In June 1999, this office was declared bankrupt, and defrauded investors continued to knock on police doors for many years, demanding that Grishin be brought to criminal responsibility.

Also, for a long time, Sevastopol residents spat at the mention of two more companies with the same name - “Mercy Society”, registered by Grishin. Only one was founded in the form of a public organization, and the second - as a charitable foundation.

Grishin's affairs went up, and in 2000 he even ran (albeit unsuccessfully) as a deputy for the Sevastopol City Council. By the way, Grishin ran under pro-Russian and pro-communist slogans. But the most interesting thing is how the scammer explained in his autobiography what he was doing in 1995. As the future legendary battalion commander convinced his Sevastopol voters, in 1994-1995, as a true patriot of the Russian Federation, he fought in Chechnya against the separatists who encroached on the territorial integrity of the great and indivisible Russia. And since Ukrainian citizenship prevented him from joining the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, he allegedly took part in hostilities as part of a partisan detachment organized by the FSB.

When in November 2014, journalists from the “Left Bank” found the “Sevastopol Bulletin” for 2000 and asked the People’s Deputy of Ukraine Semyon Semenchenko to comment on the line from his autobiography that he was part of the so-called “voluntary peacekeeping corps to eliminate the conflict in Chechnya” , the people's choice, without blinking an eye, told a story that cannot but be cited as an example of the phenomenal deceit and exceptional literary talents of our hero:

“1994. I am 20 years old. I studied at Nakhimovka - an educational institution with a special ideology. We were brainwashed - be healthy. Romance, the search for adventure, the desire to fight injustice (and this is exactly how the collapse of the Soviet Union and Chechen separatism were presented to us) brought me to the Caucasus. But it was there that I saw real injustice. It was a tough but fair lesson, an inoculation against Russian imperialism. As a result, I became disillusioned with the ideas that they tried to instill in me, matured, and began to critically understand reality. I made friends among Nokhchi. Without my youthful maximalism and the lessons of Ichkeria, the current Semyon Semenchenko would not exist.”

It is a pity, of course, that the Left Bank journalist, after Grishin-Semenchenko’s tirade, did not ask the people’s representative what kind of “special ideology” was instilled in the cadets at the Ukrainian state educational institution and which of the teachers was “brainwashed”. But Grishin actually wasn’t in any Chechnya. Because during this period he got acquainted with the menu of the Lukyanovsky pre-trial detention center in the capital of Ukraine. And the future battalion commander studied at Nakhimovka for only three months.

What K.I. Grishin had to do after leaving the pre-trial detention center: he distributed tickets for concerts and sold vegetables. But the creditors did not give rest, demanding that law enforcement agencies initiate criminal proceedings against the fraudster. And they initiated it - for example, on August 20, 2002, case No. 420675 for robbery was opened against Grishin in Simferopol.

Grishin tried to improve his financial affairs with the help of publishing, organizing the release of two pro-Russian leaflets (I dare not call them newspapers), calling for the liquidation of Ukraine and the restoration of the Soviet Union - “Sevastopolsky Vestnik” and “Our Sevastopolskaya Pravda”. But there were few people willing to buy such literature.

Then Grishin registered in May 2006 with the Leninsky District State Administration of Sevastopol as an individual entrepreneur. But scandalous fame ran ahead of him, and a month later our hero decided to fall back to his spiritual roots by moving to Moscow. There, using forged documents, he was accepted into a two-year course in the specialty “Dramaturgy and Television Directing” at the Center for Additional Professional Education (now the Higher Courses of Cinema and Television at the All-Russian State University of Cinematography named after S. Gerasimov). These courses are intended for obtaining a second higher education, and Grishin, as we remember, did not have the first - only prison universities. Therefore, he presented a fake diploma and was thus enrolled in the educational institution.

But Grishin did not complete his studies, and in 2008 he returned to Ukraine, where he again tried to engage in private entrepreneurship - he even received a single tax payer certificate for 2009. But Grishin never paid the single tax, which is why the State Tax Inspectorate in the Leninsky District of Sevastopol was subsequently forced to go to court.

In the Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions, you can familiarize yourself with the decision of the District Administrative Court of Sevastopol dated December 9, 2010 in case No. 2a-3685/10/2770 on the recovery from Grishin of a considerable amount for him at that time - as much as 616 UAH. 45 kopecks

Since personal data is not disclosed in the USRSR, I quote the text of paragraph 2 of the operative part of this decision from the case materials:

“To collect from an individual entrepreneur Konstantin Igorevich Grishin (identification number 2718504398, 99040, Sevastopol, M. Gelovani St., 10, apt. 32; accounts in bank institutions r/s 26000054803058, MFO 324935, SF PJSC CB Privatbank ", Sevastopol) in favor of the state tax inspectorate in the Leninsky district of Sevastopol in the income of the local budget of the Leninsky district of Sevastopol, the debt to the budget for a single tax in the amount of 616.45 hryvnia."

True, Grishin was not particularly worried about these legal vicissitudes - by that time he had already moved to Donetsk and married Natalya Moskovets, a resident of Makeyevka. Together, the couple went into business installing satellite dishes and providing related services. However, the orders were carried out, let’s say, informally, or on behalf of Grishin’s wife, who also registered as an individual entrepreneur.

It would be possible to talk for a long time and with passion about what Grishin was doing in the Donetsk region - and about the private enterprise “Euroline Company” registered by him in Sevastopol, which, nevertheless, managed to deceive the people in the mining town of Gorlovka, and about the shell company “ New satellite television." But this is not the subject of our study about the business successes of the national hero - in the end, neither his scams nor the criminal cases brought against him, you see, do not represent anything outstanding or unusual for Ukraine. The earnings of the future Semyon Semenchenko are mentioned here only for the sole purpose of explaining that at the time of his acquaintance with Anton Gerashchenko, Kostya Grishin was in terrible debt, since he is a swindler in life, and a loser swindler, and all his adventures ended in failure.

The financial condition of Grishin at the end of 2013 - beginning of 2014 can be evidenced, for example, by this decision of the Kirovsky District Court of Makeevka, Donetsk region dated November 13, 2013 in case No. 268/3130/13-ts on the claim of PJSC "Delta Bank" to Moskovets N.O. on collection of debt under a loan agreement in the amount of UAH 1,236. 06 kop.

I quote the operative part of the court decision:

“To collect from Natalya Olegovna Moskovets, born March 5, 1983 (identification number 3037903085), in favor of the public joint stock company Delta Bank (current account 29096003953206, MFO 380236, EDRPOU code 34047020) the amount of debt: on the loan - in the amount of 1236, 04 UAH; interest debt - in the amount of 0.02 UAH, and in the total amount - 1236.06 UAH, formed as of June 25, 2013 under the loan agreement No. 003-04130-201010 dated October 20, 2010.”

That is, a person who claims that in April 2014 he created and armed an entire battalion with his own money was not able to repay the loan balance in the amount of 1.2 thousand UAH.

Moreover, in March 2014, Grishin did not have money to pay for a mobile phone. And the MTS Ukraine company also filed a lawsuit against his wife, in whose name the corporate account was issued. Here you go, the decision of the economic court of the Donetsk region dated March 20, 2014 in case No. 905/599/14.

I quote the operative part:

“Claims of the Open Joint Stock Company “MTS Ukraine”, Kiev (USREOU 14333937) against the individual entrepreneur Moskovets Natalia Olegovna, Makeevka, Donetsk region (identification code 3037903085) for the collection of debt in the amount of 13,439.47 UAH. satisfy in full. To recover from an individual entrepreneur Moskovets Natalya Olegovna (86110, Donetsk region, Makeevka, mn Stroitel, 11/59, identification code 3037903085) in favor of the Open Joint Stock Company "MTS Ukraine" (01601, Kiev, Leiptsigskaya St., 15, OKPO 14333937) the amount of debt in the amount of 13,439.47 UAH, the cost of paying the court fee in the amount of 1,827.00 UAH.”

At the time of this decision in Donetsk, Russian “titushki” had already stormed the regional state administration and the regional prosecutor’s office, killing two participants in the pro-Ukrainian rally. And the future people's deputy Semyon Semenchenko was looking for any income. I went to separatist rallies, hung around in the seized regional state administration, went to the Kiev Maidan, begging money for tickets from friends. Until Fortune smiled on him, and Bogdan Kutepov in March 2014 invited the Donetsk activist (and this is exactly how Grishin introduced himself in Kyiv) to the Hromadsky TV studio.

Kutepov, in fact, came up with the pseudonym Semyon Semenchenko for Grishin. Because Grishin could not appear on television screens under his own name - creditors and victims of numerous scams were looking for him. For the same reason, he pulled on his balaclava mask. Well, since there is only one step from the great to the ridiculous, Grishin’s subsequent acquaintance with Anton Gerashchenko was quite logical.

Already at the beginning of May 2014, it became known that the person who signs on social networks as Semyon Semenchenko (the pseudonym invented by Bogdan Kutepov turned out to be surprisingly tenacious) is a petty Donetsk swindler Kostya Grishin, desperate from chronic lack of money, whose wife is wanted by the telecom operator MTS to collect debt for the use of a mobile phone in pursuance of the decision of the Economic Court of the Donetsk region dated March 20, 2014 in case No. 905/599/14.

In search of something to feed his three children, Grishin wandered around the separatist headquarters, took part in the storming of the State Treasury branch in Donetsk on March 3, 2014, and hung around the regional state administration seized by the Gubarevites. For example, in this video of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, released on March 3, 2014, the future MP is visible from the 11th to the 22nd second.

However, in the same way, the unemployed Grishin went to the Kiev Maidan and wandered among the participants in pro-Ukrainian rallies in Donetsk, from time to time getting caught on camera.

It is unlikely that any ideological justification can be found here, although while living in Sevastopol, Grishin positioned himself as a Russian nationalist, and it was under pro-Russian and pro-communist slogans that he ran for the Sevastopol City Council in 2000. Everything was simpler: “a gentleman in search of a chervonets” was looking for where to earn at least some penny.

Probably, two years of studying in Moscow at directing courses benefited the talented swindler. Having found a “gold mine” thanks to Gerashchenko, Grishin, together with his then comrades-in-arms - primarily, the current People’s Deputy of Ukraine Natalya Veselova - created a Facebook page with stories about the non-existent “territorial defense battalion of the Donetsk region “Donbass”. Indicating, of course, the account numbers to which donations should be transferred.

Of course, there was no “Donbass” battalion. Territorial defense battalions are units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. As Veselova later assured, who, at the request of the rogue, created a fake page for a fake battalion, she had no idea that Semyon Semenchenko was a previously convicted fraudster who collected money by advertising himself with staged scenes of the exploits of a pseudo-battalion.

Fake IDs and real weapons

No matter how talented the future legendary battalion commander was, it was other people who brought the Semyon Semenchenko project to wider horizons - Anton Gerashchenko and Arsen Avakov.

On May 30, 2014, as part of military unit 3027 of the National Guard of Ukraine (as the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine are now called), based in the village. New Petrivtsi, Vyshgorod district, Kyiv region, the 2nd special purpose battalion was formed. This special purpose consisted in the fact that reservists were enrolled in the battalion - that is, citizens who wanted to restore or gain skills in military occupational specialties.

In essence, “reserve battalions” are something like the Soviet DOSAAF, and the very concept of a reservist was introduced by the law of March 17, 2014, which introduced innovations to the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service.” Namely, inserted article 26-1 appeared, determining that:

“Service in the military reserve is introduced for the purpose of systematic training of reservists for manning the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations in peacetime and wartime by acquiring and maintaining at the proper level skills and abilities in a military specialty... Reservists do not belong to the employed population in Ukraine and have the right, in accordance with employment legislation, to be recognized as unemployed and registered with the state employment service as job seekers, ready and able to begin suitable work.”

This 2nd reserve battalion was used by Grishin and Gerashchenko to advertise on social networks and the media accounts opened by swindlers for financial support of the non-existent “territorial defense battalion of the Donetsk region “Donbass” in the state.

Grishin, who had nothing to do with the National Guard, was, by order of Avakov, allowed into the territory of military unit 3027, where he met people who wanted to enlist in the much-advertised battalion. At the same time, Grishin introduced himself as the commander of military unit No. 3027, Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko. If the swindler did not see how to use this person for his needs, he sent him to register with the real commander of the military unit - Vladimir Musienko. But in most cases, Grishin personally “recruited”, signed the “order” and issued a false “certificate” with the “right to carry a service weapon,” which he certified with a false seal.

Grishin used these people to shoot advertising videos, thanks to which he collected colossal money and a fleet of luxury cars.

This is what a typical fake ID of a fighter from the non-existent Donbass battalion looks like. A certificate signed by “the commander of military unit 3027, Lieutenant Colonel S. Semenchenko,” issued to a shooter allegedly enrolled in military service “by order of the commander of military unit 3027 dated June 19, 2014 No. 24.” Below is a “permit to carry a service weapon” indicating the number of the AKS machine gun, certified by a false seal.

It didn’t even occur to the people who received these “certificates” that battalions are not legal entities and cannot have seals, that the seals must indicate the EDRPOU code, and the symbols of state institutions are approved by resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. And who could suspect the scale of the scam if all this took place on the territory of a military unit of the National Guard, where outsiders could not enter?

True, if the seal was fake, then the weapon was real. In this connection, a completely logical question arises for Avakov and Gerashchenko: where did Grishin get the AKSs that he distributed on the territory of military unit 3027 to the citizens he deceived, thinking that they had been accepted into the ranks of the National Guard? And aren’t these “leftist” weapons from the warehouses of the National Guard? In this case, it would also be nice to find out exactly how many “barrels” were distributed, how many were sold and to whom exactly. This is all the easier to do since the fake IDs bear the real serial numbers of the machines.

The second set of questions concerns the legal status of people who were convinced that they were fighting as part of military unit 3027 of the National Guard of Ukraine under the leadership of “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko.” It is clear that they were victims of fraud committed on the territory of a military unit. But this does not make them military personnel. And now the question arises: how could civilians, even if deceived by Grishin, end up in a combat zone? And who will now pay financial assistance to the relatives of those killed with false IDs of a National Guard soldier?

By the way, in general it would be nice to figure out how the National Guard reservists ended up in the zone of the anti-terrorist operation, which, according to the law, was carried out only by the Anti-Terrorism Center of the SBU. Because in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the Fight against Terrorism,” neither the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, nor the National Guard subordinate to it, nor the Armed Forces of Ukraine have anything to do with the ATO, and only second their employees and military personnel, along with equipment, to the subordination of the first deputy chairman of the SBU. Therefore, I would like the Security Service of Ukraine to explain how the National Guard reservists ended up at its disposal, and what those with false IDs issued by “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” were doing among them.

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that it was impossible for “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” to be accepted into the National Guard - due to his past criminal record. And although it has long been extinguished, the very fact that Grishin was convicted makes it impossible for him to serve in the police or the National Guard of Ukraine. What position could a citizen with a secondary education who had not previously served a day in the army be hired for? Perhaps only an ordinary soldier.

That is why Grishin had to hide his real name, since any local police officer could instantly “punch through” his biography from the file cabinet of the Information Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. For the same reason - a balaclava mask. Because the characteristic appearance of “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” was very well known both to the deceived residents of Sevastopol and to his creditors in Donetsk.

As volunteers later said, who were sure that they were helping the Donbass battalion, the behavior of “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” at first did not arouse any suspicion in them precisely because the distribution of certificates and weapons took place outside the fence of the military unit, where Semenchenko felt at home. Natalya Veselova even founded a charitable foundation to raise funds and opened accounts in PrivatBank in her name. It’s just that she had the imprudence to indicate Grishin’s number as one of the contact numbers when opening accounts. This ultimately led to the fact that in January 2015 the fraudster changed his PIN code (an SMS with the new code was sent to his phone) and withdrew all the money collected by the volunteers in cash through ATMs.

But at first, the gullible people believed that Semyon Semenchenko was a national hero. The first suspicions crept in in July 2014, when it became known that the so-called battalion commander, instead of being at the front, was leading the life of a socialite and actively collecting money in cash - in particular, he took a large sum from the then chairman of the Donetsk regional state administration Sergei Taruta, which appropriated.

Then rumors spread that Grishin took $300 thousand from US citizen Mark Paslavsky, allegedly to purchase drones for the needs of the National Guard, and after Mark began to demand reporting for the funds spent, he was shot in the back.

Grishin, who back in March 2014 could not pay for the phone and was hiding from creditors with his wife, a month after the start of fundraising, he was already driving prestigious foreign cars, dining in restaurants and pouring out cash in front of the soldiers, demonstrating what a million hryvnia was. But most of the scandals were around the unclear legal status of the fighters. Actually, there were two battalions - the official one, as part of military unit 3027 under the command of the legal commander, and the people who were accepted into the service by “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” and who also considered themselves military personnel, had weapons and dreamed of seeing their leader not on TV, but in the zone ATO.

At the same time, neither one nor the other received monetary support. Instead, stories regularly surfaced about how some incomprehensible guard of the “battalion commander” robbed an enterprise, cut up and sold a small plant for scrap metal, shook money out of a businessman, or took away an expensive car from a resident of the front-line zone.

Donations to the Army: Foreign Travel, Carefree Life and Personal Security

When in August 2014 Avakov decided to put his eggs in different baskets and make Grishin a people’s deputy, a problem arose - how could the “battalion commander” create a beautiful biography, taking into account the fact that 8 months spent in a pre-trial detention center, a guilty verdict and repeated cases of full criminal prosecution excluded the possibility of enlisting him in the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Then we did the following. On August 11, 2014, it was ordered to enlist Grishin in the National Guard without presenting any document, even without a passport - “with words.” Konstantin came to the personnel department and called himself Semenchenko Semyon Igorevich, a retired captain-lieutenant of the Ukrainian Navy. These data, without any documentary evidence, were entered into a personal file and sent for a special check for past convictions.

The response from the Information Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine came instantly: Semen Igorevich Semenchenko, born in 1974, is not listed in the file index of persons brought to criminal liability. And this is the holy truth. Because Konstantin Igorevich Grishin, born in 1974, drank the prison gruel. It is clear that no one sent a request to the Ministry of Defense regarding the existence of “Lieutenant-Captain Semenchenko”. Not to mention the fact that no one even checked whether the new soldier was accidentally listed as a private entrepreneur? Meanwhile, Grishin handed over the certificate of an individual entrepreneur only on November 24, 2014 in connection with his election as a people’s deputy of Ukraine on the party list of the notorious “Samopomich”.

After this, by order of Avakov, the sea captain-lieutenant was immediately recertified as a land captain and appointed commander of the 2nd special battalion of military unit 3027 with the issuance of the corresponding service certificate. This was precisely at the moment when dozens of people who were “recruited into service” by the so-called “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko” entered Ilovaisk. Only the legendary battalion commander was not with them. Because he was just registering for service in the National Guard, where he received a false document indicating that he had an officer rank.

Having received the certificate of a captain of the National Guard on August 11, 2014, Grishin the next day, August 12, arrived at the Vyshgorod regional department of the State Migration Service and, on the basis of this certificate, received a new passport of the ST series under number 432098 in the name of Semen Igorevich Semenchenko. Why in Vyshgorod? Because the passport database of the Donetsk region, where Grishin was registered, was lost after the militants seized administrative buildings in the regional center, as was the passport database of Sevastopol, where Grishin was once issued a passport.

Therefore, Grishin could only obtain a new passport in case of losing his old one or changing his last name at his place of official residence or work with the presentation of additional identification documents.

Therefore, the fraudster could receive a new passport only after he, with a new last name, but without a passport, was accepted into the National Guard - on the basis of a false service ID at the location of military unit 3027.

And already on August 20, 2014, Avakov submitted a proposal to the President of Ukraine to award the previously convicted swindler, who served for only 8 days, with the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, III degree. After which he awarded the swindler with a secondary education, who had never served in the army at all, the rank of major.

Now it was possible to run for office. Moreover, Grishin had enough money not only for an election campaign, a carefree life and foreign voyages, but even for hiring personal security.

By the way, as the Main Directorate of the National Guard of Ukraine responded to my request, military unit 3027 never received funds or cars from citizens for the needs of the 2nd Special Purpose Battalion. The battalion itself is not a legal entity, has neither its own seal nor its own account in banking institutions. That is, Grishin-Semenchenko stupidly misappropriated the donations. However, I cannot believe that the lion’s share of donations did not go to Avakov and Gerashchenko - friendship with the Minister of Internal Affairs and his faithful adviser is usually expensive.

Having received a new internal passport on August 12, Grishin-Semenchenko immediately corrected it for a new surname and a foreign one. And already on September 19, 2014, the order bearer was collecting money from gullible Diaspora residents in the United States.

A completely logical question: how did the serviceman receive an American visa, with what funds did he fly overseas, and who let him travel from his place of service? Here is the answer from the Main Directorate of the National Guard: “For the entire period of his service in the military reserve, Major Semenchenko Semyon Igorevich was not granted leave; the Main Directorate of the National Guard of Ukraine does not have information about the funds for which the trip to the United States of America was carried out. Officials of the Main Directorate of the National Guard of Ukraine did not provide assistance to citizen Semenchenko Semyon Igorevich in obtaining an entry visa to the United States of America.”

It is interesting in this case how the US Embassy issued a visa without a certificate from the place of service, without a certificate of income and without confirmation that citizen Semenchenko is in the United States during his legal leave, during which he will maintain a place of work in Ukraine.

By the way, what documents did Grishin-Semenchenko provide to the US Embassy to confirm his solvency - was it really statements from the account into which charitable assistance was collected? And did he tell you in the questionnaire about the 8 months spent in a pre-trial detention center, the conviction and the non-repaid loans?

I have reason to assert that Grishin, of course, hid the details of his turbulent biography from the US Embassy.

However, Major Semencheko’s military career turned out to be short - on November 24, 2014, he was dismissed from the post of commander of the 2nd battalion of the regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine at his own request. But questions remain. First of all - to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

Actually, there are three questions. First: when exactly, based on the facts stated above, will criminal proceedings be opened, and the officials of the National Guard of Ukraine, who allowed a previously convicted swindler into the territory of a military unit, issued him an officer’s certificate and contributed to the theft of funds from gullible citizens, will be brought to criminal liability?

The second question: when exactly will a proposal to lift parliamentary immunity from Semyon Semenchenko and Anton Gerashchenko be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine?

And finally, the third question: what exactly is the prosecutor’s office doing to posthumously grant the status of combatants to those citizens who, having been deceived by “Lieutenant Colonel Semenchenko,” mistakenly believed themselves to be fighters of the National Guard and died during the anti-terrorist operation?

Vladimir Boyko