Recently, there have been reports in the media that security forces are “storming” volunteers, suspecting them of dishonesty, squandering humanitarian aid, and sometimes even stealing. Every time, thousands of people, public figures stand up in defense of volunteers, calling for justice. It should be noted that, in fact, most of these cases do not even reach the court - checks prove that the volunteers are not involved in the transactions attributed to them, and justice prevails.
But, as they say, every medal has two sides - in Ukraine there are such “volunteers” and “veterans” who go unpunished for years.
According to RBC-Ukraine, the infamous veteran and volunteer, suspected of fraud and arms trafficking, Mikhail Maiman appears in a criminal case of beating. The publication reminds that he has already been detained by law enforcement agencies more than once, and the last court session on beating a woman will be considered on October 25 in the Goloseevsky court of Kyiv.
The well-known Odessa journalist and blogger Stas Dombrovsky, in his investigation, speaks of Maiman as follows: “I have not heard a word of truth from Mikhail Maiman. No matter what questions you ask him, everything turns out to be a lie.
The President of the Boxing Federation of Kyiv, Kirill Shevchenko, has known Maiman for many years, almost since childhood, and in a conversation with a journalist he found it difficult to say anything good about him.
“I know him since childhood, we lived next door together. They weren’t friends, but they knew each other. One of my friends built me closely with him in 2014. I trust people and accepted Mikhail as my own - I believed his story about the war. When he left Ukraine, he helped him a lot, sent him money,” - Says Shevchenko.
According to Shevchenko, when the war began, Mayman called him and ardently convinced him that it was necessary to create a battalion, to defend Ukraine, but at the same time convinced that he should become a battalion commander.
“I agreed and replied that, they say, it’s not a question, I will be your first deputy, especially since 80% of the battalion were my guys who came to defend Kyiv boxers. - Shevchenko recalls and adds that Maiman himself constantly argued that one cannot steal in war.
However, almost immediately, the words of Maiman diverged from the deeds.
“English volunteers came to me to serve in the battalion, but when they saw Misha, they refused to serve under his leadership. He ended up stealing from them a night vision device worth £25,000.” Shevchenko says.
The President of the Boxing Federation believes that Mayman-Pomogaibo is a professional swindler who skillfully rubs himself into people’s trust.
“The problem with honest people is that they think that there are just as honest people around them.” says Shevchenko, answering the question why Maiman remains unpunished so far.
Last name theft
When Mikhail Maiman began his career, he had a different Ukrainian surname - Pomogaybo. However, having married Sarah Maiman, he suddenly appropriated her surname to himself. According to Sarah herself, without permission.
“Michael has always had problems with the law, - says Ivan Zaliznyak, an ex-fighter of the Azov regiment, and now an employee of the Traditions and Order battalion. - That’s probably why he took Sarah’s last name for himself. He himself did not tell me this, but I think he used this name as a defense against external pressure. There is still a good attitude towards Jews in Ukraine. Perhaps he thought that something would be forgiven him because he was a Jew.”
Zheleznyak recalls that Maiman-Pomogaibo resorted to a similar trick to change his surname - he told others that he was the native nephew of a native of the Republic of Ichkeria, respected in Odessa.
“He took my last name without permission. I found out about it after the fact, - says Maiman’s ex-wife Sarah. - When I asked him why he didn’t tell me anything, they twisted a finger at my temple and said that “the surname is our national property.”
Handy Tool
A well-known Ukrainian lawyer, and now a volunteer, Andrey Tsygankov, once represented the interests of Mikhail Maiman in courts, but their paths quickly diverged and now the men are at enmity.
“I always told Misha that a lawyer is not an accomplice. If the lawyer sees that the client begins to involve the lawyer in criminal activities, and in this case we are talking about looting, then the lawyer will not be around. Moreover, Misha crossed all the “red lines” and began to threaten me personally and my family with force of arms.”
Tsygankov says that there are many facts that directly prove that Mikhail Maiman is a marauder.
“There is evidence of people who went with him on paramilitary campaigns, but only they were on the front line, and Misha was not. He saved primarily an armored car, not people. People have always been expendable for him, says the lawyer.
Another reason for Maiman’s hatred, Tsyganka calls the fact that the “veteran” was deprived of the opportunity to use the DFTG (volunteer formations of territorial communities) and humanitarian aid for himself.”
“Unlike many others, I did it systematically. I want to prove and I will prove that he is a criminal, says the lawyer.
Tsygankov believes that the impunity of Mikhail Maiman may be a sign that the “veteran” is a convenient tool for certain government agencies.
“It is a very convenient tool for government agencies. He is willing to talk about what is asked of him. That is, what any sane person would be ashamed to tell, Maiman gives it as evidence. And he doesn’t care about the consequences.”
Ivan Zaliznyak generally believes that Mikhail is a freelance agent of the Ukrainian special services.
“It’s strange when so many things hang on a person, but he doesn’t have problems with the law,” says the veteran.
Photo: veteran Mikhail Maiman (Styler collage)
Source: Fakty
My name is Wendy Thorne and I was born on October 1st, 1990. I grew up in Los Angeles, CA and currently reside in Brooklyn, NY. I work as a staff writer for a news website and have been authoring articles for Daily News Hack since 2020. The topics I mostly cover are entertainment news and celebrity gossip.
