Journalists uncovered connections between influential law enforcement officials and Oleg Tatarov.

About a dozen and a half law enforcement officers currently holding managerial positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, and the State Bureau of Investigations are somehow connected to Oleg Tatarov, the Deputy Head of the President's Office. This is stated in an investigation by the journalists of "Schemes" (a project of "Radio Liberty"), published on December 6.

Some of the influential law enforcement officials are fellow townsmen of 42-year-old Oleg Tatarov, who oversees the entire law enforcement system from the President's Office and hail from the town of Novoukrainka in Kirovohrad Oblast. Journalists point to shared career paths, academic journeys, or familial ties between the high-ranking official and the subjects of the investigation.

Investigators discovered that Oleg Tatarov's brother, Andriy Melnychenko, works in a significant position in the Main Investigative Department of the National Police under the leadership of Tatarov's friend, Maksym Tsutskiridze. The 32-year-old law enforcement officer serves as the head of the department investigating crimes detected by the Strategic Investigations Department and the Cyber Police Department.

“In 2018, (Andriy Melnychenko – ed.) took the position of senior investigator in particularly important cases of the National Police. Two years later – in the year of Tatarov's appointment to the President's Office – Melnychenko was transferred from Kyiv to Dnipro, where he assumed one of the leadership positions: he became the deputy head of the investigative department of the Dnipropetrovsk Police. In 2024, he was promoted again and headed one of the departments of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine,” the investigation states.

The publication notes that Oleg Tatarov was also the academic supervisor of Andriy Melnychenko's dissertation at the National Academy of Internal Affairs. The opponent of the Melnychenko-Tatarov brothers’ dissertation was their fellow townsman from the Novoukrainka district, currently the deputy head of the Main Investigative Department, Artem Shevchishin.

“Shevchishin and Melnychenko have been friends since their time at the academy of internal affairs, as evidenced by their joint photos from that period published on social media. In the Getcontact phone application, Shevchishin's number has tags such as: 'Tsutskiridze's task' and 'from Tatarov',” add "Schemes".

The journalists published a list of Oleg Tatarov's fellow townsmen with whom he is connected through family ties or shared career or academic paths:

National Police of Ukraine:

• Maksym Tsutskiridze, First Deputy Head of the National Police of Ukraine, Head of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police;

• Artem Shevchishin, one of the deputies of the head of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine;

• Andriy Melnychenko, head of the department investigating crimes detected by the Strategic Investigations Department and the Cyber Police Department of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine;

• Viktor Luhovyi, deputy head of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv Oblast – head of the investigation of the National Police of Kyiv Oblast (a long-time friend of Oleg Tatarov's brother, Andriy Melnychenko);

• Igor Luhovyi, advisor to the head of the department providing support to the head of the National Police (has co-publications with Oleg Tatarov);

• Vyacheslav Matviichuk, one of the deputies of the head of the investigation of the National Police in Kyiv Oblast;

• Mykola Klivniak, one of the deputies of the head of the investigation of the National Police in Kyiv Oblast;

• Vitaliy Kushneryov, head of the department of the National Police in Kyiv Oblast (wrote a dissertation under the supervision of Oleg Tatarov);

• Oleg Tarasenko, deputy head of the migration police department of the National Police, professor at the Department of Operational and Search Activities of the Academy of Internal Affairs.

State Bureau of Investigations of Ukraine:

• Vadym Zahamulа, deputy head of one of the departments of the Main Investigative Department of the State Bureau of Investigations (wrote a dissertation under the supervision of Oleg Tatarov);

• Stanislav Stratonov, deputy head of one of the departments of the Main Investigative Department of the State Bureau of Investigations (wrote a dissertation under the supervision of Oleg Tatarov);

• Artem Spuskanyuk, deputy head of the investigative department of the territorial department of the State Bureau of Investigations in Kyiv (wrote a dissertation under Tatarov's supervision);

• Artem Kozachenko, senior investigator of the territorial department of the State Bureau of Investigations in Kyiv (a childhood friend of Oleg Tatarov's brother, Andriy Melnychenko).

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine:

• Olexandr Tarasenko, director of the Department of Education, Science, and Sports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (opponent of the dissertation of the candidate of sciences under the supervision of Oleg Tatarov).

Journalists from "Schemes" inquired with influential law enforcement officers from Novoukrainka whether they communicate with Oleg Tatarov and if there is a possibility that the Deputy Head of the President's Office facilitated their appointments? And how can law enforcement officers guarantee their independence from political influence from the President's Office?

All the mentioned employees of the SBI – Stanislav Stratonov, Vadym Zahamulа, Artem Spuskanyuk, and Artem Kozachenko – stated that they do not maintain contact with Oleg Tatarov and do not associate their careers with him, claiming that they obtained their positions through competitive processes. Officials from other law enforcement agencies did not respond to the editorial requests.

"Schemes" also reached out for a comment on this matter to the Deputy Head of the President's Office, Oleg Tatarov, but at the time of publication, he had not responded to the editorial request.

Who is Oleg Tatarov

42-year-old Oleg Tatarov has been the Deputy Head of the President's Office since August 2020. Prior to 2014, he held the position of Deputy Head of the Main Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

During the Revolution of Dignity, Tatarov held briefings on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, addressing the attacks by law enforcement officers on protesters. Later, Tatarov denied executing criminal orders, claiming he acted as an officer.

After the lustration, Oleg Tatarov headed the legal department of the construction company "UkrBud" and engaged in legal practice, notably representing the interests of Andriy Portnov and Vadym Novynskyi. In December 2020, Tatarov was suspected of bribery during his work at "UkrBud".

Following the Russian occupation of Crimea and parts of Donbas, and before his appointment to the President's Office, Oleg Tatarov flew to Moscow at least nine times. The official publicly denies this information.

Tatarov was appointed to the President's Office in the fall of 2020, responsible for law enforcement matters. Several Ukrainian media outlets reported that Tatarov has significant influence over law enforcement agencies, including the SBI, NABU, SBU, and the National Police.