“The mayor demanded that the department head be framed”: Manziuk accused Senkevych of revenge and revealed million-dollar expenses

Former deputy head of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Mykolaiv City Council Nataliia Ivanivna Manziuk, whom the Supreme Court ordered reinstated after a years-long legal dispute, has made serious allegations against Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych. She claims that the mayor tried to use her to remove the department’s then head and, after she refused and reported possible financial violations, decided to get rid of her instead.

In a Facebook post, Nataliia Manziuk published copies of internal documents, audit materials and court rulings. These include correspondence concerning the sports department’s finances, repairs to a sports school costing UAH 1.47 million, the use of an official vehicle and other budget expenditures.

She describes her dismissal not as a staffing reorganization, but as a deliberate reprisal for taking a principled stand. At the same time, the Supreme Court ruling confirms that the dismissal was unlawful because the mayor exceeded his authority; it does not establish the political motives Manziuk alleges.

Supreme Court overturns dismissal signed by Senkevych

On October 23, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in case No. 400/2540/22, finding the dismissal of Nataliia Manziuk unlawful and ordering her reinstatement as deputy head of the sports department from February 16, 2022.

Nataliia Manziuk had worked as the department’s deputy head since February 21, 2017.

On April 19, 2021, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych issued Order No. 99r, removing one deputy head position from the department’s staffing structure and transferring the position to the Legal Department.

That decision marked the beginning of the staff-reduction procedure, which ended with the official’s dismissal.

On February 14, 2022, the mayor signed Order No. 45rk dismissing her, and on February 15, the department issued Order No. 21-k.

Manziuk challenged these decisions. The trial and appellate courts initially ruled in favor of the city authorities, but the Supreme Court reached the opposite conclusion.

The Court found that the mayor did not have the authority to unilaterally change the structure of the executive bodies or transfer a staff position to another department without a corresponding decision by the city council.

Only the city council, at a plenary meeting, is authorized to determine the structure and staffing levels of the executive bodies.

Therefore, Manziuk’s dismissal, based on the mayor’s staffing decision, was found unlawful, and the relevant order and directive were overturned.

Explaining her account of the dismissal, she said:

“It was pure, planned political revenge and an attempt to cover their tracks in a hurry.”

“The mayor pressured me to draw up a report”: how the conflict with Manziuk began

Nataliia Manziuk says her conflict with Oleksandr Senkevych began in the summer of 2020, ahead of the local elections.

According to her, the mayor persistently urged her to join his political team.

At the same time, she claims, the mayor wanted to remove the sports department’s then head, Oleh Valeriiovych Mashkin.

To do this, Manziuk alleges, he demanded that she prepare an official report stating that the department head was at work while intoxicated.

Describing the alleged demand, the official wrote:

“The mayor literally pressured me to draw up and sign an official report stating that Mashkin was at work while intoxicated.”

Manziuk claims that Oleh Mashkin regularly drank alcohol in his office, arrived at sporting events under the influence and even showed up in that state at meetings at City Hall.

She also says she refused to comply with the mayor’s demand because she did not want to take part in the behind-the-scenes removal of the department head.

After she refused, she says, anonymous complaints about Mashkin began reaching the mayor, while rumors allegedly spread at the city council that Manziuk herself was behind them.

These allegations against Senkevych are based on the official’s personal claims. The documents she released do not confirm that the mayor actually demanded that she draw up such a report.

Mashkin resigned, then was punished twice for refusing alcohol tests

In early March 2021, Oleh Mashkin left his position as head of the sports department.

As Korabelov.info previously reported, Oleksandr Senkevych explained at the time that Mashkin had made a personal decision to leave and might have had family reasons. The mayor also suggested that Mashkin could take a job at Sports School No. 6.

The former department head later did take charge of this municipal sports facility.

He later appeared in court twice for refusing to undergo tests for alcohol intoxication. The first incident occurred on June 11, 2021, after a traffic accident in which the driver left the scene. The second took place on March 25, 2023, during the full-scale war.

Under the two court rulings, he was fined a total of UAH 34,000 and had his driver’s license suspended for one year on each occasion.

After Mashkin’s dismissal, Manziuk began auditing the department’s finances

According to Nataliia Manziuk, after Mashkin was dismissed, she was temporarily assigned the duties of head of the sports department.

She said Oleksandr Senkevych signed the relevant order on March 11, 2021.

The official says that, after receiving the head’s authority, she began auditing the financial and business activities of the department and its subordinate sports facilities.

On March 16, 2021, she says, she sent the mayor an internal memo describing the financial discipline violations she had identified.

The documents she released include a registration number for the report: 8773/16.01-10/21-2, dated March 16, 2021.

Manziuk said she brought to the city leadership’s attention the awarding of bonuses, what she described as concealed accounts payable, fuel use, coal purchases and other expenditures by sports institutions.

She attached copies of letters from the Department of Internal Financial Control, Oversight and Anti-Corruption of the Mykolaiv City Council.

One document is addressed to sports department head Iryna Bondarenko and signed by the department’s director, Andrii Yermolaiev.

It asks the department to provide explanations and copies of documents concerning 11 aspects of its financial and business activities.

Sports school roof repairs: UAH 1.47 million versus UAH 200,000

One part of the audit concerned the major roof repairs at Specialized Children and Youth Sports School of Olympic Reserve No. 6, located at 73-V Pushkinska Street in Mykolaiv.

The department’s document lists a contract with sole proprietor O.M. Buchko worth UAH 1,472,154.

The oversight body asked for an explanation of the grounds for awarding the contract, noting in its letter that the winner of the electronic auction had been an entrepreneur whose bid was UAH 200,000.

The department also requested the design and cost-estimate documentation, an expert report and documents confirming that the work had been completed.

The released letter confirms that auditors raised these questions with the department’s leadership. However, it does not show that the difference between the amounts was deemed a loss or that law enforcement authorities proved the contract was unlawful.

4,322 kilometers in 5 days and just 20 liters of diesel

Another item in the document concerned the use of an official Renault Dokker vehicle assigned to Oleh Mashkin.

The oversight department requested explanations about the vehicle’s use from March 1 to 5, 2021.

The document lists a mileage of 4,322 kilometers during that period and the use of 20 liters of diesel fuel.

The department also asked about the circumstances in which the official vehicle was used, including while Mashkin was on annual leave from January 4 to 6, 2021.

Auditors requested documentary evidence concerning these circumstances.

It is impossible to determine from the materials provided whether the figures resulted from accounting errors, improperly completed travel logs or other violations. The final audit findings on the vehicle have not been released.

Bonuses, training camps, meals and utility debts

Other issues examined by the department included:

According to Nataliia Manziuk, it was after uncovering these issues that she became convinced the city leadership was not interested in conducting a full audit.

At the same time, the released documents primarily confirm that official requests were made for explanations and supporting materials. They do not include a final report establishing all the violations alleged by the official or confirming that each one involved corruption.

New department head and abolished position: Manziuk alleges retaliation

At the end of March 2021, Iryna Oleksandrivna Bondarenko took over as head of the sports department.

Nataliia Manziuk claims that the mayor instructed the new head to conduct an audit, improve financial discipline and review the staffing schedules of sports institutions.

But according to her account, instead of addressing the violations, the city leadership decided to get rid of the person who had first raised these issues.

A few weeks after Bondarenko’s appointment, on April 19, 2021, the mayor issued Order No. 99r, which removed the deputy head position from the department’s structure.

Manziuk links this staffing decision to her work duties.

She is convinced that her position was deliberately abolished to remove an inconvenient employee.

Describing the mayor’s actions, the official said:

“They simply eliminated the position of the person who exposed their corruption.”

However, nearly 10 months passed between the issuance of the order in April 2021 and Manziuk’s actual dismissal in February 2022.

The legality of the staff-reduction procedure and the final dismissal became the subject of a years-long court case.

What happened to sports in Mykolaiv after her dismissal

In her statement, Nataliia Manziuk linked the events of 2021 to current criminal proceedings involving the sports department and its subordinate institutions.

In particular, she referred to the suspicion announced against department head Iryna Bondarenko and to investigations into the possible fictitious employment of people at sports schools.

As Korabelov.info previously reported, in April 2026 law enforcement authorities notified Iryna Bondarenko that she was suspected of an offense under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to investigators, employees may have been listed on the payroll of municipal sports institutions under their supervision despite not actually performing their duties, while receiving salaries from the budget.

The case against Bondarenko concerns the possible misappropriation of more than UAH 550,000 in public funds.

On May 4, 2026, the court suspended the official from her position and ordered her held in custody, with the option of posting bail of UAH 832,000.

In addition, on October 21, 2026, it became known that preventive measures had been imposed on five current and former heads of Mykolaiv sports schools.

They are suspected of fictitious employment and possible misappropriation of public funds.

According to investigators, the alleged scheme may have operated from February 2022 to February 2026, with estimated losses to the city budget exceeding UAH 1.5 million.

However, the documents she published do not prove a direct link between her internal reports in 2021 and all the incidents in the current criminal investigations.

Only a court can determine the guilt of the suspects in these proceedings.

Who will pay for the unlawful dismissal?

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, the question of compensation to Nataliia Manziuk for the period she was forced to remain out of work became a separate issue.

The official sought to recover her average wages for the entire period of her unlawful dismissal.

However, the Supreme Court did not set the final amount of compensation and instead sent that part of case No. 400/2540/22 back to the Mykolaiv District Administrative Court for a new review.

It is therefore not yet known what amount Manziuk may be awarded if the court grants her financial claim.

Summing up her years-long struggle, Nataliia Manziuk said:

“Time has put everything in its place. The corruption schemes came to light anyway, the law prevailed, and now the city budget will pay for every day of their behind-the-scenes ‘scheming.’”

At the same time, the Supreme Court found only that the staffing decision was unlawful. The allegations against the mayor of political retaliation and deliberately concealing financial violations remain Nataliia Manziuk’s claims and require separate investigation.

We previously reported: