Relatives "worked" only on paper: Mykolaiv city council official taken into custody
The court suspended the official from her position for two months
4 May 2026 the investigating judge of the Central District Court of the city of Mykolaiv considered the investigator’s motion, agreed by the prosecutor of the District Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Mykolaiv, regarding the selection of a preventive measure and suspension from office of the head of one of the departments of the Mykolaiv City Council.
This concerns the head of the sports department of the Mykolaiv City Council, Iryna Bondarenko, former director of the DYuSSh in the Korabelnyi district. She is suspected of misappropriating another’s property by abusing her official position, committed under martial law, under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
According to the investigation, the official may have organized a scheme of fictitious employment of people in Mykolaiv’s municipal institutions. Among such persons, it is reported, were also her relatives.
The investigation believes these employees did not actually show up for work and did not perform official duties, yet they were paid salaries from budget funds. According to law enforcement, the official disposed of these funds at her own discretion.
The preliminary amount of damages is over 550,000 UAH.
Following consideration of the motion, the court suspended Iryna Bondarenko from her position for two months.
The court also imposed on her the preventive measure of detention with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 832,000 UAH.
The investigation in the case is ongoing.
Previously, we wrote:
- Over 550 thousand “flowed” from the budget: head of a city council department suspected of employing ghost relatives
- At the sports department of the Mykolaiv City Council, draft dodgers were registered in sports schools for money
- On paper they treated patients perfectly, but the budget “shrunk” by UAH 21.3 million: suspicion against the director of the Korabelnyi District hospital
- A village head in the Mykolaiv region will be tried: signed acts without verification – the community lost UAH 630,000
- Damages to Mykolaiv’s budget of UAH 1.2 million: the “procurement” of traffic lights ended in a trial of Senkevych’s subordinate
