Yevhen Serhiyovych Deidei (; 12 July 1987) is a Ukrainian politician and lieutenant colonel who served as a

People's Deputy of Ukraine A people's deputy of Ukraine (, ) is a member of parliament and legislator elected by Direct election, popular vote to the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine. They are often referred to simply as "deputies". Prior to 1991, the Verkhovna R ...

from 2014 to 2019. Previously, he served as coordinator of the

Kyiv-1 Police Battalion The First Company of the Special-Purpose Kyiv Regiment (), formerly known as the Kyiv-1 Battalion () is a company of the National Police of Ukraine's Special Police Forces. History The Kyiv-1 Police Battalion was founded in April 2014 as ...

of the

Special Tasks Patrol Police The Special Police Forces () is a Ukrainian volunteer corps of law enforcement units, part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. History In April 2014, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov issued an order to create battali ...

under the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

. In 2012, he was sentenced to five years in prison for robbery but was later released from the punishment. Deidei's current whereabouts are unknown. Initial reports indicated that he was killed during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, but other sources have subsequently claimed that he clandestinely left the country via smuggling routes.

Early life and career

Deidei was born on 12 July 1987 in the small town of Reni, Odesa Oblast, which lies on the left bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. His father, a deputy of the town council of Reni, Serhiy Yakovych Deidei, in 2011 he was convicted of fraud by the decision of Izmailsky District Court of Odesa Oblast. His mother was Olha Mykolayivna Deidei (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Volkova), he has a brother Serhiy. In 2004, at the age of 17, he participated in protests during the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

in Ukraine. Deidei was convicted of

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

in 2012. The verdict was pronounced by the Suvorov district court of

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

on 23 March 2012. Deidei received five years for robbery without confiscation of property. His accomplice Oleksiy Lyakhovolsky (later he became his assistant in Verkhovna Rada) received the same term of imprisonment - 5 years without confiscation of property. According to the court decision, Deidei acquired a hunting shotgun " TOZ" without any permit, later he sawed off the

shoulder stock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock, or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attac ...

and

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

of the shotgun, which he kept with him without any legal rights. On 2 February 2011, Deidei and Lyakhovolsky made the first robbery attack on A. Trandasir and S. Trandasir on the 1st Student Lane in Odesa. They beat citizens and took their

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

and money. In the evening of the same day, Deidei and Lyakhovolsky attacked two men, A. Khmuryy and I. Sakal, at the corner of Krasnoslobodskaya Street and Yasha Gordienko Street. On the night of 3 February, near the house No. 3 along Ostrovsky Street, the criminals committed the third attack - on S. Syvoplyasov, D. Shevchuk and V. Rudkovska. Accomplices began to beat the men, when they were noticed by ''militsiya'' officers. Lyakhovolsky was arrested while trying to escape from the crime scene. On 11 February, after the opening of the criminal case, Deidei was also arrested. Deidei and Lyakhovolsky fully admitted their guilt in the above explained crimes. On 23 March 2012, the Suvorov District Court of Odesa sentenced Deidei and Lyakhovolsky for robbery to five years in prison without confiscating of property (with a delay of three years). According to the decision of the Liubashivka District Court of the Odesa Oblast of 6 April 2015, Lyakhovolsky was released from the punishment. From the end of 2013, Deidei began to hide from the authorities, but was not wanted. After the beginning of the

protests in Ukraine Human rights in Ukraine concern the fundamental rights of every person in Ukraine. Between 2017 and 2022, Freedom House has given Ukraine ratings from 60 to 62 on its 100-point scale, and a "partly free" overall rating. Ratings on electoral pro ...

, Deidei became the ''

Sotnik Sotnik or sotnyk (; ; ) was a military rank among the Cossack starshyna (military officers), the Russian ''streltsy'' and Cossack cavalry, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the Ukrainian Galician Army, and the Ukrainian People's Army. Administrative ...

'' of the 7th ''

Sotnia A sotnia ( Ukrainian and , ) was a military unit and administrative division in some Slavic countries. Sotnia, deriving back to 1248, has been used in a variety of contexts in both Ukraine and Russia to this day. It is a helpful word to create ...

'' of “Self-Defense of the Maidan”.

War in Donbas

In 2014, Deidei became the coordinator of the battalion of the

"Kyiv-1" of the Main Directorate of the

of Ukraine in Kyiv. In November 2014, he became a people's deputy of the 8th convocation of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

on the list of the " People's Front" party. In the same year, Deidei became the coordinator of the battalion of the

"Kyiv-1" of the Main Directorate of the

of Ukraine in Kyiv. On 10 September 2014, along with other commanders of volunteer battalions he was included in the

Council of war A council of warPeople's Front". On 24 February 2015, the car in which Deidei was travelling was shot from an

RPG-7 The RPG-7 is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket launcher. The RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and are now manufactured by the Russian company Bazalt. The weapon has t ...

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...

launcher in the area of Marinka,

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

. Deidei managed to escape from the scene of the shelling, along with two soldiers of the "Kyiv-1" battalion, and got to the

Kurakhove Kurakhove (, ; , ) is a city in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. Population: 21,479 (2001). Kurakhove is home to the Kurakhove Power Station. The city has been under Russian occupation since December 2024, the power station s ...

district department. On 14 July 2017, Deidei received a shrapnel wound in a foot with an 82-mm shell in

Avdiivka Avdiivka (, ; , ) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The city is located in the centre of the oblast, just north of the regional centre, Donetsk. The large Avdiivka Coke Plant is located in Avdiivka. The city had a population of before th ...

. This was reported by his comrade-in-arms in the "Kyiv-1" battalion. The Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings. According to Ukrainian journalists, at the time when Deidei was in Avdiivka, no heavy shelling was recorded.

Political life

During

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

, Deidei met a number of politicians who occupied or subsequently occupied high posts in the Ukrainian authorities -

Arseniy Yatsenyuk Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk (born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served two terms as Prime Minister of Ukraine – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and from 27 November 2014 to 14 April 2016. He was t ...

Arsen Avakov Arsen Borysovych Avakov (, ; born 2 January 1964) is a Ukrainian politician of Armenian descent who served as the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine from 2014 to 2021. He was the Chairman of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration from ...

, and

Oleksandr Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (, ; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptists in Ukraine, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukra ...

. Deidei spoke about his decision to become a parliamentarian as follows: "I decided to go to the Verkhovna Rada because I saw people there n ''Maidan Nezalezhnosti''who were different from those politicians who were there before us. revious politiciansdid nothing, but

and

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

. And I saw a perspective in these people, so I decided to follow them." On 6 February 2015, a number of media published photos of correspondence between the deputy of the "People's Front" Oleksandr Kodola and Deidei. The latter promised $1,500 for Kodola for "asking a question" to the

Prosecutor General of Ukraine The Prosecutor General of Ukraine (also ''Procurator General''; , ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General (, or, before 2020, ). The prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by th ...

Vitaly Yarema Vitaly Hryhorovych Yarema (; born 14 October 1963) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician, law enforcement expert who was General Prosecutor of Ukraine from 19 June 2014 until 10 February 2015.Pecherskyi District Pecherskyi District () is an Urban districts of Ukraine, urban district of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It lies within the eponymous historical neighborhood, while also including some other historical areas. The Pechersk (, ) neighborhood is lo ...

of Kyiv and, at that time, the Prosecutor of the Prymorsky City District of Odesa, Oleksandr Kuzmenko, who opposed the Euromaidan activists. According to police sources, in 2015, Deidei together with his wife Inga flew four times on a private charter plane AHO633J of Denys Dzenzersky, whose assistant Ihor Linchevsky loaned Inga Deidei ₴3.5 million. Together with them, deputies Tetyana Donets and Andriy Pavelko flew to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and returned to Kyiv from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. During those flights, Deidei and Dzenzersky used diplomatic passports, which is strictly prohibited, since the purpose of their trip was leisure. In March 2016, the head of the largest Ukrainian gas producer

UkrGasVydobuvannya The state-owned Public JSC UkrGasVydobuvannya () is the largest Ukrainian gas producer. It is a vertically integrated company with a complete production cycle: from exploration of gas and gas condensate reserves, field development, transportation ...

Oleh Prokhorenko appealed to the

National Anti-Corruption Bureau The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine () is a Ukrainian Government, Ukrainian law enforcement agency, law enforcement anti-corruption agency which investigates corruption in Ukraine and prepares cases for prosecution. It has investig ...

, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the National Police to investigate the activities of deputies Maxym Polyakov and Deidei, who, according to Prokhorenko, was putting pressure on the company. Deidei protested against the appointment of Andrey Tokar to the post of Director of logistics of UkrGasVydobuvannya due to the fact that he previously worked at the

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

Oil Refinery in Russia: "How can such a strategic object as UkrGasVydobuvannya be under the leadership of

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

's lapdogs?! It can't be allowed to happen," - Deidei wrote on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page on 3 March 2016. Deidei also participated in a protest action close to the UkrGasVydobuvannya's Office, and he gave to the company management a letter demanding to dismiss Tokar. UkrGasVydobuvannya's COO Oleksandr Romanyuk noted that such a position of the deputy frightens away foreign workers who speak

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

or English and have experience that Ukrainian citizens don't have. In July 2016, the Governor of Odesa Oblast and the third

President of Georgia The president of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი, tr) is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U ...

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

, accused Deidei of blocking the attraction of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n investments in the port of Reni on behalf of

. Saakashvili also expressed outrage at Deidei's criminal past: "A Latvian investor could invest

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

6 million in the Reni port, several hundred Renians could get a job. This is a depressive port. But deputy Deidei, who was convicted four times, calls me and on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, says that the Latvians should not be allowed. What does the MIA have to do with the port of Reni? And why a four times convicted person is sitting in the parliament and allowing himself to call and discussing such topics with me?" In May 2017, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Yuriy Lutsenko, sent to the Verkhovna Rada a request for the removal of

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...

from Deidei. He was suspected of violating Article 368-2 of the

Criminal Code of Ukraine The legal system of Ukraine is based on civil law, and belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal tradition. The main source of legal information is codified law. Customary law and case law are not as common, though case law is often used in support ...

("illegal enrichment"). On 3 July, Lutsenko, during a meeting of the Rada's Regulatory Committee, showed recordings of telephone conversations about Inga Deidei's loan of ₴3.5 million from businessman Ihor Linchevsky. These records do not confirm the origin of the money through the loan. The materials of the Prosecutor's Office, sent in July 2017 to the Verkhovna Rada, stated the following: # According to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, from 1 June 2009 to 31 December 2016 Deidei received a total income of ₴241,883.3. # His ex-wife Inga Deidei from 14 September 2007 to 31 December 2016 received a total income of ₴1,198,822.50. # Total income of the Deidei family was ₴1,440,705.84. # In the declaration of Yevhen Deidei, it was stated that Inga had financial obligations to Ihor Linchevsky in the amount of ₴3.5 million. # During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that the loan agreement between Inga Deidei and Ihor Linchevsky was not executed, and the money was not transferred. # With a total income of ₴1,440,705.84, Deidei officially indicated assets of ₴6,133,690.95 - an apartment in Kyiv worth ₴2,893,993.06, two

Audi Q7 The Audi Q7 is a crossover SUV made by the German manufacturer Audi, unveiled in September 2005 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Production of this seven-seater SUV began in November 2005 at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. ...

cars (worth ₴1,574,818.67 and ₴1,664,879.22). On 1 November 2018, Deidei was included in the Russian sanctions list in connection with Ukraine's unfriendly actions towards citizens and legal entities of the Russian Federation.

Awards

Order For Courage The Order for Courage () is a Ukrainian award established by Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma on August 21, 1996. Design by Ukrainian artist Mykola Lebid. Awards of the President of Ukraine for Courage Before August, 1996, personal bravery ha ...

, 3rd class (2 August 2014). On 19 September 2018, a message appeared in the official government newspaper ''

Uryadovy Kuryer ''Uryadovy Courier'' (, literally ''Governmental Courier'') is the national daily newspaper published by the executive branch of Ukraine. History and profile Founded in 1990, ''Uryadovy Courier'' is published in Ukrainian, and is consistently ...

'', in which the Order For Courage (together with the order book) received by Deidei was declared lost. *Honorary weapon –

Glock-17 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and ...

pistol (11 March 2015). * 25 Years of Independence of Ukraine Medal (19 August 2016).

Earnings

In 2013, Deidei did not declare any income. He owned a 15-year-old

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly Subcompact car, subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has bee ...

, and his wife Inga had a five-year-old Subaru Tribeca. In 2014, Inga Deidei, who earned ₴14,500 (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

539) in a year, acquired a 2013

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...

. On 18 and 19 October 2012, Inga purchased two apartments in Odessa, with areas of and . The Camaro was sold next year for ₴700,000, and two

were bought for a total of ₴3.5 million. According to the declaration, the money came from a loan given to Inga. In 2015, Deidei declared expenses in the amount of ₴2.737 billion for the construction of an apartment – without specifying the source of this money. In this regard,

opened criminal proceedings under article No. 368-2 of the

("Illegal enrichment"). At the end of 2015, Deidei declared US$30,000 in cash, and his former spouse – US$41,000 and ₴350,000. At the same time, the deputy's salary for 2015 was ₴70,600, he also received ₴80,500 as compensation for the exercise of powers, as well as ₴180,000 as compensation for rental housing, while Inga Deidei earned ₴39,000. Thus, Deidei paid ₴15,000 per month for renting an apartment of . According to an investigation of independent journalist Volodymyr Boyko, Deidei owned a

luxury car A luxury car is a passenger automobile providing superior comfort levels, features, and equipment. More expensive materials and surface finishes are used, and buyers expect a correspondingly high quality (business), build quality. The term is ...

park, consisting of Infiniti FX35 (2009),

(2012),

Audi A7 The Audi A7 is an executive five-door liftback produced by Audi since 2010. The coupé variant of the Audi A6 saloon/estate, the Audi A7 features a sloping roofline with a steeply raked rear window and integrated boot lid (forming the Sportback ...

(2011), Toyota Land Cruiser 200 (2013),

Porsche Cayenne The Porsche Cayenne is a series of automobiles manufactured by the German company Porsche since 2002. It is a luxury crossover SUV, and has been described as both a full-sized and a mid-sized vehicle. The first generation was known within Por ...

(2011), as well as the two above-mentioned Audi Q7 (2015).

Alleged death

On March 10, 2022, Deidei's wife announced his death, though she did not specify the circumstances. She later clarified that she had been informed of her husband's death, but did not specify by whom. Several sources from the Ukrainian border service and police have claimed that Deidei is in fact alive and illegally left the country into

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

via smuggling routes, and that a man who assisted him has been detained.

References

External links

People's Front profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deidei, Yevhen 1987 births Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Odesa Law Academy alumni Outlaws People from Reni, Ukraine People of the Euromaidan Recipients of the Order For Courage, 3rd class