Fictitious salaries at Mykolaiv sports schools: three suspects taken into custody

Mykolaiv Central District Court imposed preventive measures on five current and former heads of sports schools. They are suspected of fictitiously hiring people and embezzling public funds. Some of the suspects were remanded in custody. According to ct.mk.court.gov.ua.

The court’s press service reported the following decisions:

• Three suspects were remanded in custody with the option of posting bail. For one suspect, bail was set at nearly UAH 700,000; for the other two, it was set at more than UAH 830,000 each.
• A 75-year-old former sports school director was granted bail of more than UAH 266,000.
• A suspect serving in the military following mobilization was placed under a personal recognizance obligation.

Investigators believe the scheme operated from late February 2022 through February 2026: sports school directors allegedly hired fictitious employees and shared the salaries paid to them among themselves. Investigators estimate that the local budget suffered losses of more than UAH 1.5 million. The suspects are charged with embezzling public funds on an especially large scale and official forgery.

Earlier developments in the case also involved Iryna Bondarenko, head of the Sports Department of the Mykolaiv City Council. News of searches at the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Mykolaiv City Council, which she heads, emerged on January 20. According to information available at the time, investigative actions also took place at two sports schools:

• The Peremoha Sports School, headed by Oleksandr Munch.
• Specialized Children and Youth Sports School of Olympic Reserve No. 6, where Oleh Mashkin, the former head of the city’s Sports Department, works as deputy director and boxing coach.

On January 23, the Central District Court seized property belonging to the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Mykolaiv City Council, which had been confiscated during the searches.

Commenting on reports of the searches several days after they became public, Iryna Bondarenko accused the media of spreading rumors. At the same time, she confirmed that the department had provided all the documents requested by law enforcement.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych did not suspend the official at the time. In a later comment, he denied reports that the department had arranged the sale of mobilization deferments for $5,000 and said he was waiting for the investigation’s findings.

Before serving Iryna Bondarenko with a notice of suspicion, law enforcement searched her home and car. On April 29, 2026, she was notified that she was suspected of misappropriating more than half a million hryvnias in public funds. Afterward, Oleksandr Sienkevych announced that she would be suspended while investigative actions were underway.

On May 4, the court suspended Iryna Bondarenko from her position and remanded her in custody. Her detention was ordered until June 26, with the option of posting bail.

On September 28, the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal declined to open proceedings on the prosecution’s appeal against the decision refusing to extend Iryna Bondarenko’s suspension from office.

We previously reported:

• Fictitious employees, relatives and hundreds of thousands of hryvnias: controversial Mykolaiv official returns to work
• During the war, money went to “ghost employees”: scheme uncovered at an educational institution in Mykolaiv
• More than UAH 550,000 “vanished” from the budget: city council official suspected of hiring “ghost” relatives
• Conscripts were hired for money at Mykolaiv City Council’s Sports Department
• Searches in Mykolaiv’s sports sector: mobilization deferments may have become a “commodity”