Kostopil mayor resumes duties despite corruption case

Acting head of the Kostopil City Council, David Didukh, who is suspected of a corruption scheme worth 1.3 million UAH, has returned to work after a three-month break. Earlier, the official announced that he was removing himself from his duties and going on a long-term vacation. However, after the city council session, which took place in late April, David Didukh again headed the community.

Kostopil Mayor David Didukh and Kostopil City Council deputy Oleksandr Biler were exposed in a land fraud on February 25, 2025. According to the State Bureau of Investigation, the officials agreed with the entrepreneur to transfer a plot of land worth UAH 1.3 million to their ownership free of charge, and in return promised to help with the approval of the necessary documentation in the City Council.

When a private notary prepared documents for the alienation of 0.38 hectares of land in favor of a person controlled by the mayor, law enforcement officers detained all those involved in the crime and charged them with suspicion under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obtaining an especially large amount of unlawful benefit).

After the event gained public resonance, David Didukh announced on his Facebook page that he was removing himself from office and going on a long-term leave. Liliya Shulzhuk, the head of the executive committee of the Kostopil City Council, temporarily took over his duties in his place.

Later, after a three-month break, a session of the city council was held in Kostopil, attended by David Didukh. He stated that 11 deputies had expressed no confidence in him.

I put a draft resolution on expressing no confidence in me to the vote on the agenda, which received 11 votes. This confirmed my words that my removal will not happen, since the deputies do not support it, but simply some political forces are artificially spreading this topic on the Internet.

According to the mayor of Kostopol, the court did not remove him from office, but imposed some restrictions that prevented him from returning to work earlier. David Didukh also added that "the legal process affects the performance of duties only in that it sometimes forces him to distract himself from community life to resolve personal issues."

Let us remind you that David Didukh is a figure in the EBK database.

We also previously reported that the head of the city council in Volyn and a businessman were caught embezzling UAH 6 million during the purchase of cars for the military. They face up to 12 years in prison for their actions.