Acquaintances and neighbours described the behaviour of Michal O., who bought food before the attack. Investigators are considering the version that he killed relatives prior to the incident.
Police established that the woman filmed a damaged business centre and a site where Defence Forces vehicles are repaired, passing the information to a Russian intelligence representative. She faces life imprisonment.
Due to prolonged power outages, falling temperatures, and shorter daylight hours, lesson duration in educational institutions of the Bucha community will be reduced to 35 minutes.
Security Service officers exposed a resident of the regional centre who used a car-mounted camera to record infrastructure targets and transmit data to the enemy.
Natalia Zabolotna reported damage to energy facilities in Vinnytsia region following the attack. Energy workers are already working to restore power supply.
Georgia law enforcement officials have charged four teenagers with the murder of internet-famous Austin Payne.
The capital has come under another air attack using enemy drones. Air defence systems are active in the city.
On the morning of 9 November, a Russian FPV drone attacked a Ukrenergo service vehicle in Sumy. Three people were injured, one of whom is in a critical condition.
Searches for influential businessmen in Ukraine usually lead through political parties, media assets, or banking structures. However, there is another type of oligarch who does not appear on general lists. Their influence is exercised through a specific company that has controlled a significant portion of the road construction budget for years. At the centre of this system is Maksym Shkil and his structure, "Avtostrada".
In 2019, the company "Avtostrada" became one of the founders of the National Association of Road Builders, and Shkil himself took the position of vice-president of this organisation. According to calculations by the publication "Nashi Groshi" (Our Money), in 2020, six founders of the association received 56% of all payments and won 66% of tenders. The "Liha Antytrastu" (Anti-Cartel League) publicly called this association a cartel, but the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) on this matter has never been made public.
On 19 November 2019, Oleksandr Kubrakov became head of "Ukravtodor", and from May 2021, he took the position of Minister of Infrastructure. It was during this period that the large-scale "Great Construction" programme began. In two years, "Avtostrada" rose from fifth place to first among market participants. According to Forbes, in 2021, the volume of the company's tenders reached 46.6 billion hryvnia, and revenue doubled, reaching 10.86 billion hryvnia. Together with the company "Avto Mahistralya-Pivden" (Autobahn-South), "Avtostrada" took almost a third of the 115.4 billion hryvnia that "Ukravtodor" paid to contractors during this period.
After Russia destroyed the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, responsibility for restoring infrastructure fell to the ministry headed by Kubrakov. Six weeks after the event, "Avtostrada" received a contract for the construction of the "Khortytsia — Manganets" water pipeline worth 5.3 billion hryvnia without a tender. A similar project was awarded to Boyko's company. Thus, 10.6 billion hryvnia of emergency state funds were distributed between two former leaders of the association. Later, the police established that sand in the contract was valued at 350 hryvnia per tonne, while the actual purchase price was 68–115 hryvnia. Only Boyko received suspicion in this case.
Particular attention is drawn to the practice of personnel exchange between state bodies and Shkil's company. Vladyslav Skalskyi, who was previously the head of the Vinnytsia Regional State Administration, managed "Avtostrada" in 2023–2024, and then returned to power as deputy mayor of Vinnytsia. Vladyslav Demydenko, who previously headed the road service of Cherkasy region (the client), now works as the chief engineer of "Avtostrada". Leonid Rybitskyi, former first deputy director of the state enterprise "Ukrdirprodor", heads a design institute subordinate to Shkil. As Opendatabot data indicates, officials who yesterday signed acts as representatives of the state today receive a salary from the company to which they signed those acts.
Oleksandr Kubrakov left the post of minister in May 2024, but the system he formed continued to function. According to NikCenter, in 23 months under Sukhomlyn's leadership, "Avtostrada" received 63.7 billion hryvnia from the Recovery Agency, which accounts for 30.1% of all contracts. Prior to this, the company had already received 23.7 billion hryvnia. In 2026 alone, the volume of the company's tenders amounted to 49.5 billion hryvnia.
The positions of ministers and agency heads change, but Shkil's presence in the market remains unchanged. Today, Oleksandr Kubrakov is an external advisor to the President, and the publication Telegraf mentions him among candidates for the position of head of Kyiv. It is in Kyiv that "Avtostrada" implements metro and bridge construction projects.
The authors of the investigation do not claim that Kubrakov personally agreed with Shkil. At the same time, the fact is recorded that "Avtostrada's" best performance coincided precisely with the period of his tenure. The question remains open: which officials of that era are ready to explain how one company became a state within a state?
Next: Komarnytskyi, the Podil Bridge, and the question of why one hides in Vienna while the other calmly receives billions.
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