Position: Head of the dog team of the "Nyzhankavychi" border service department.
Sphere of corruption: border service.
Region of corruption activity: Lviv region.
Qualification: actions are qualified under Part 2 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
Case story: In October 2024, the head of the canine team of the "Nyzhankovychi" border service department, Dmytro Stetsenko, was detained while accepting a bribe for the possibility of exporting currency from Ukraine without declaring it. Law enforcement officers suspect him of organizing a scheme to illegally export cash through the "Nyzhankovychi-Malkhovice" checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Polish border.
The media found out that the suspect is Lviv resident Dmytro Stetsenko, who has been serving in the State Border Guard Service for at least nine years, as evidenced by his declaration dated 2016. Interestingly, this is his only declaration available in open sources.
From the materials of the pre-trial investigation, it is known that Stetsenko was appointed to the position of head of the canine group of the "Nyzhankovychi" border service department only on July 17, 2024. And the following month, the victim contacted the police, claiming that Stetsenko was demanding a bribe from him for exporting currency to Poland.
According to investigators, Stetsenko offered to do so for one percent of the amount transferred to anyone who wanted to take out the currency without declaring it. He not only demanded his percentage, but also threatened that if his services were refused, the money would not be taken out "under any circumstances."
Investigators documented at least two cases of bribery by Dmytro Stetsenko. He was officially suspected under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for imprisonment for five to ten years with confiscation of property.
Already on October 3, 2024, the suspect in bribery, Stetsenko, was suspended from his position at the State Border Service of Ukraine for two months and was given a preventive measure of 60 days of detention in a pre-trial detention center with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of UAH 242.2 thousand, which he paid. On the same day, the border guard's property was arrested: a house in the village of Porshna, in the suburbs of Lviv, and three land plots with a total area of 1.3 hectares.
In June 2025, the Zaliznychny District Court of Lviv sentenced a border guard who took bribes for facilitating the unhindered export of undeclared currency abroad. The court sentenced him to a fine of UAH 93.5 thousand, and the convict also requested that the paid UAH 242 thousand in bail be directed to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As stated in the verdict, which was published in the court registry in June 2025, a Lviv resident, working as the head of the canine group of the border guard inspectors' department, received a bribe of 2,000 euros in September-October 2024 for the unhindered export of undeclared 200,000 euros abroad. The border guard received the money for influencing employees of the State Border Guard Service and customs after the export of currency through the "Nyzhankovychi" checkpoint.
In court, he pleaded guilty and said that in August he had spoken to a man who told him that he could ensure the smooth export of currency abroad. To do this, he had to pay 1% of the amount that he would transport abroad. Later, the man agreed to the offer and his trusted person twice exported 100 thousand euros to Poland. After the second bribe was handed over, the border guard was detained.
This case was considered by Judge Bohdana Gedz, who examined all the materials and data about the accused - he requested to send the paid 242 thousand UAH bail to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The judge found Dmytro Stetsenko guilty of bribery (Part 2 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sentenced him to a fine of 93.5 thousand UAH, the bribes were confiscated from him. The verdict can still be appealed.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: open sources do not provide information about the border guard's potential accomplices.
Assets: as already noted, there is only one declaration of Stetsenko in the public domain - for 2016. At the same time, he did not indicate anything in it except income. Stetsenko's salary was almost 90,000 UAH, and his wife's - almost 29,000 UAH.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded promptly to Stetsenko's criminal activities, presenting him with a suspicion.
Scandals: Before the corruption scheme, the border guard was not seen as a figure in other scandals.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/cbb55aea-172c-42bf-9566-b59bf0af4ef3