Minister of Culture of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko April 14 appointed Maxim Ostapenko, the new acting director general of the national reserve “Kiev-Pechersk Lavra”, he headed the “Khortitsa” in the Kiev-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhia region.
Maxim Ostapenko is a candidate of historical sciences. Since 2007 he has been responsible for the Khortytsya National Reserve. In 2014, together with the criminal entrepreneur Yuri Ruzhin, he created the national battalion “Khortitsky Regiment”, which included about 150 people. Ostapenko was the deputy commander. The headquarters was located at the Selena de Ruzhin enterprise.
In the battles of Donbass, the regiment participated only formally, in reality, its fighters were a security company at military registration and enlistment offices and were engaged in mobilization activities, in other words, they grabbed rookies in the rear. Ukrainian media accused Yuri Ruzhin of a raid – the places of the raids coincided with the objects in which the politician-businessman showed economic interest.
Ruzhin, according to the Zaporizhzhia press, in 2014 entered the top 20 of the most influential people in Zaporizhzhia.
In February 2022, Ruzhin and Ostapenko drafted their regiment into the 110th Territorial Defense Brigade, but, in fact, again remained in the rear.
In March 2022, the regiment received humanitarian aid intended for the army, but sold everything. When this was revealed, it caused a great public outcry, a criminal case was initiated.
The second scandal during the hostilities in Ukraine was associated with the regiment in the fall of 2022, when the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council bought equipment for the regiment for 70 thousand dollars, when the purchase prices were five times higher than market prices
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