Ukrainian media defy court ban, publish forbidden report on top official's brother

"Several Ukrainian media outlets on July 17 defied a court ban by publishing an investigative report on the brother of Oleksiy Sukhachov, head of the State Investigation Bureau.
According to the report, Oleksiy Sukhachov’s brother Oleksandr has bought 143 apartments at a price far below their market value, with each apartment being sold at the price of a smartphone. The construction of the apartment buildings involved has been investigated by Oleksiy Sukhachov’s State Investigation Bureau, raising questions about a potential conflict of interest.
The bureau denied the accusations of wrongdoing.

On July 6, a Ukrainian court banned the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the media outlet Slidstvo.info and journalist Alina Stryzhak from publishing the investigative report.
But Maksym Savchuk, a journalist at Slidstvo.info and a co-author of the investigation, said on July 17 that he had not been banned from publishing the report. He added that he had sent the investigation to other media outlets for publication.
“The (court) order does not apply to me — and I co-authored the investigation,” he wrote on Facebook. “So I have both the moral and legal right to share the text, which Alina and I worked on together, with other media outlets.”
The report was published by Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ukrainska Pravda, Hromadske, Toronto TV, Suspilne, Mezha.net, Bihus.info, NV.ua, Graty, and NGL.media.
From 2018 to 2020, Oleksandr Sukhachov, a businessman, acquired 143 apartments in Kharkiv, although he does not own most of them now, according to the investigation.
He bought the apartments at book value, far below market prices, the media outlets reported.
In 2018 Sukhachov bought 30 apartments for a total of Hr 1 million ($39,300 at the 2018 exchange rate) at prices ranging from Hr 24,600 to Hr 48,900 per apartment ($932 to $1,856).
The same year, he also purchased another 28 apartments for a total of $33,000.
The apartments were sold by Parkovy-2, a company owned by lawyer Ivan Kozikov at the time. Currently the same housing project is owned by real estate developer Stroy City.
The Kyiv Independent has requested comment from Stroy City and will publish its response once it is received.
In 2021 the police investigated allegations that the buildings in which Sukhachov bought the apartments had been built illegally.
According to Ukraine's court registry, in 2021 the police also found company seals belonging to Oleksandr Sukhachov during searches at Stroy City offices.
In 2022 the case was transferred from the police to the State Investigation Bureau. No one has been charged in the case.
Later the case was sent back to the police and closed, and then resumed again." KI