Mykola Udianskyi, Romania’s Honorary Consul in Kharkiv, is a longtime crypto scammer with a russian passport, a daughter in russia, and deep ties to russian business. Yet somehow, he continues to enjoy the privileges of a diplomatic passport — cruising around Dubai, Monaco, and other luxury destinations in expensive cars, and the Ukrainian authorities haven’t said a word.
On March 1, 2023, the Honorary Consulate of Romania in Kharkiv was officially opened. The event was attended by Deputy Head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Yevhen Ivanov, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, and Romanian Ambassador to Ukraine Alexandru Victor Micula. They praised the deepening economic cooperation between Romania and the Kharkiv region and emphasized the importance of the new consulate.
Mykola Udianskyi was appointed as Romania’s Honorary Consul in Kharkiv and introduced as an IT entrepreneur. “Mykola is a well-known and highly respected member of the IT community, especially here in Kharkiv. He maintains close ties with the people of this region and consistently shows his solidarity with the city,” said Ambassador Micula at the time.
Did he know he was praising a russian national with a long track record of fraud and ties to organized crime — not some harmless tech guy? And more importantly, where were Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Interior Ministry when they approved Udianskyi’s candidacy, effectively making a criminal a diplomat?
Who Is Mykola Udianskyi?
Now 51, Udianskyi was born in Kharkiv and is still officially registered at 5 Zernovyi Lane. He graduated from the Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University with a degree in Roads and Airfields, and later earned a law and cybersecurity degree from the Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. From 2003 to 2006, he worked as commercial director of Olivin Trading House, a perfume and cosmetics company. After that, he moved into manufacturing and selling payment terminals.
In 2013, Mykola Udianskyi founded the IT company “Prof-it,” which developed cryptocurrency exchanges and other blockchain-based tools. A year later, in 2014, he became the founder of the insurance company “Assur”. In 2016, together with his business partner Yurii Poltavskyi, he launched E-Dinar Coin — his own cryptocurrency — through a company called “Yedinarcoin LLC”. But by 2020, the company had gone bankrupt, and the coin had lost nearly all its value — dropping 1,000 times.
That same year, Udianskyi joined media manager Dmytro Kolot and tech entrepreneur Bohdan Prilepa to buy the domain name parlament.ua and created the Parlament Media Group. He’s also known for founding two crypto exchanges — CoinsBit and Qmall. In 2021, Forbes Ukraine listed him among the country’s richest people, placing him at #59 with a net worth of $180 million.
In 2015, Udianskyi tried to get elected to the Kharkiv regional and city councils, running as a candidate from the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko. But voters didn’t support him. Judging by the now-abandoned Facebook page “Mykola Udianskyi – Servant of the People,” it looks like he tried again in 2020, this time with the president’s Servant of the People party. That plan failed too. Still, as mentioned before, in March 2023, Udianskyi was appointed Honorary Consul of Romania in Kharkiv.
By early 2025, though, the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration began to distance itself from him, stating they had nothing to do with his appointment. So what changed? In November 2024, Udianskyi was added to the Myrotvorets database. His profile there cited violations of Ukraine’s citizenship laws and alleged involvement in money laundering through blockchain platforms.
Then in January 2024, a civil organization called “Sorry We’re Alive” submitted a formal request to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), urging them to open a criminal investigation into Udianskyi. Their letter claimed the honorary consul still held russian citizenship, was involved in crypto fraud with convicted partners, had ties to Kharkiv’s criminal underworld, and maintained connections with associates of Chechen leader ramzan kadyrov.
“We believe Mykola Udianskyi’s activities may be coordinated by russian intelligence and pose a threat to Ukraine’s national security”, the statement said.
Despite these serious accusations, the SBU refused to launch a case or begin an investigation. Finally, in November 2024, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court in Kyiv ordered the SBU to open a case against Udianskyi. The ruling cited five articles of the Criminal Code: 111 (treason), 111-1 (collaboration), 190 (fraud), 209 (money laundering), and 368 (bribery).
But as of today, according to BlackBox OSINT, Ukraine’s public court registry shows no sign of an open investigation or any legal progress on the case.
How Deep Are Udianskyi’s Ties to russia: Kadyrov’s Inner Circle and a Daughter in russia
Let’s start with the claims about his russian citizenship and connections to the russian elite.
In November 2024, Ukrainian serviceman and journalist Kyrylo Danylchenko published a photo on Facebook showing Mykola Udianskyi’s russian international passport. Based on the image, the passport was valid until July 2023 — meaning it was still active several months after he had already been appointed Honorary Consul.
“At the time of his appointment, Udianskyi was still a russian citizen. And he might still be one — the fact that his passport expired doesn’t mean he automatically lost citizenship… I get that in our country, if you have enough money, you can get disability status, dodge mobilization, go hunting for people, or even become an MP while being a gangster and a restaurant owner. But in my opinion, having a russian citizen serve as an honorary consul in a country that helps transport our grain and supplies us with heavy weapons — that’s just too much”, said journalist Kyrylo Danylchenko.
According to BlackBox OSINT, Udianskyi’s former partner Anzhelika Sarkisova and their 17-year-old daughter Anzhelina still live in russia. Sarkisova holds a russian passport (№4607296401), uses a russian phone number, and as of 2020 was working at a russian company called “Prodtorgplus LLC”.
Interestingly, the public only learned about Udianskyi’s daughter in russia when he went to court trying to avoid mobilization. In his court filings, he claimed to be the guardian of three underage children. That’s when it came to light that he had been financially supporting his daughter — a russian citizen living in the aggressor state — for years.
At the very least, during 2015–2016, while russia was already waging war against Ukraine, Mykola Udianskyi continued flying to moscow. BlackBox OSINT found that he would travel through Belgorod first, then catch a flight to the russian capital.
As uncovered during the investigation, Udianskyi’s ties to russia go even further. In 2020, he openly posted photos on his Instagram account with Chechen bloggers close to ramzan kadyrov, as well as with kadyrov’s associate — Rustam Kerimov, a fighter from the “Akhmat” fight club, which is owned by kadyrov himself.
It’s clear that Udianskyi has since deleted his photos with Kadyrov’s allies. But the fact remains — the honorary consul is literally one handshake away from one of Ukraine’s biggest enemies. And really, what could possibly link a Ukrainian to a Chechen fighter from Kadyrov’s inner circle — enough to proudly post a photo with him during the sixth year of russia’s war against Ukraine?
Whether it’s absurd or not, it’s certainly telling: in November 2024, a pro-kremlin Telegram channel published a post claiming that Udianskyi had been meeting unofficially in the U.S. with Trump’s team to help reestablish communication with Ukrainian authorities. The post described Udianskyi as “an acceptable intermediary for russia in future U.S.-russia-Ukraine talks,” pointing out that he “has ties to russian elites and hasn’t renounced his russian citizenship”.
If Kadyrov counts as part of the russian elite, the connection checks out. So does Udianskyi’s joint business with russian partners. In 2021, his company Prof-IT teamed up with the international company Yoola — founded by russian citizen Fuad Fatullayev — to create a blockchain platform called WeWay. The platform was managed by a UK-based firm, WEWAY GROUP LIMITED, co-founded by Udianskyi’s partner Bohdan Prilepa and Fatullayev himself.
After russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Udianskyi publicly distanced himself from WeWay — likely because of Fatullayev’s russian citizenship — and claimed to have left the project. But according to BlackBox OSINT, that’s not true.
How Udianskyi Created the Fake Cryptocurrency E-DinarCoin and Promoted It in russia
In russia, Mykola Udianskyi also worked on other projects. As mentioned before, in 2016 he launched his own cryptocurrency — E-DinarCoin. In reality, it was nothing more than a “crypto-financial pyramid scheme” that the so-called “crypto visionary” promoted while living in Indonesia. He first targeted people there, then expanded to Ghana and Nigeria. Eventually, E-DinarCoin opened offices in Ukraine, China — and, of course, russia. The project’s Russian-language Instagram page Edinarcoin.rus is still online, where Udianskyi promoted the scheme — even using a photo of former russian president dmitry medvedev to boost its image.
Udianskyi tried every trick to lure people into investing in his coin. E-DinarCoin presentations were full of flashy promises and dreams of a wealthy life. Sponsored articles appeared in top media outlets in Indonesia, Nigeria, and Ukraine — without any “advertisement” labels. While living in Bali, Udianskyi even gave away $10,000 prizes to those who joined the scheme. He claimed that investments in E-DinarCoin were insured by a company called Assur — which, as noted earlier, he himself had created and controlled. Unsurprisingly, no one ever received a single payout.
Trading of E-DinarCoin began in March 2017 at a starting price of $0.25. But by July, it had dropped below $0.01. Despite mounting problems with exchanges and payments, Udianskyi kept pushing the project — until it finally shut down in 2020. All investor funds vanished. The company “Edinarcoin” was later transferred to Udianskyi’s partner from the insurance company Assur — Yurii Poltavskyi. He’s a convicted criminal serving 8 years in prison for armed robbery, illegal possession of weapons, drug trafficking, and causing bodily harm.
How Udianskyi Cashed In on the Miya Holding Scheme
The E-DinarCoin case is actually one of the more “harmless” scams pulled off by Ukraine’s honorary Romanian consul in Kharkiv. The Miya Holding story is a whole other level.
In August 2020, a group of unknown individuals launched a Ponzi scheme under the name Miya.holding. The scheme was disguised as an investment opportunity in a ride-hailing and home appliance business. Victims were promised passive income based on the amount they invested and how many new members they brought in. A classic referral scam — bring a friend, earn more — and so on.
Funds were accepted through crypto and low-verification payment systems, making them harder to trace. Investors were told they’d earn 0.9% per day from the value of their digital “certificates.” An absurd rate that should have raised red flags for anyone with basic financial sense. But the profits weren’t real — they were just digital points displayed in users’ accounts. And there were a lot of them — over 55,000 people joined.
In early 2021, when users tried to withdraw their “profits,” it didn’t work. The organizers blamed “technical issues”. Then they pulled the next trick — converting users’ fake “Miya” points into a new cryptocurrency called Eva. They claimed it was being traded on the Coinsbit crypto exchange owned by Mykola Udianskyi.
Ukrainian law enforcement later revealed that the Miya.holding scammers had made a deal with Coinsbit. According to case № 1202100000000365 from March 4, 2021, the scammers listed Eva at a fake exchange rate of 1 Eva = 1 USD — while its real value was closer to $0.0005.
This inflated price was achieved by manipulating the market. Udianskyi allegedly gave Miya’s organizers permission to “trade” Eva on his exchange, where they themselves bought and sold it at fake prices — just to make the project look legit. In return, Udianskyi reportedly took a cut of the money flowing into the Ponzi scheme.
But soon after the scheme had likely pulled in enough cash, Eva crashed. Most exchanges stopped accepting it, and investors lost everything. Then, on March 20, 2021, Udianskyi’s crypto exchange Coinsbit blocked users from withdrawing Eva from their personal accounts on the website miyaholding.com to the exchange, effectively cutting off any chance of getting their money back. Neat, isn’t it? Not so neat that instead of ending up in jail, Mykola Udianskyi landed in a diplomatic seat.
How Udianskyi and His Partner Bohdan Prylepa Cashed In on Drones for the Armed Forces
And even this isn’t the worst part. In addition to Coinsbit — a crypto exchange registered in the Seychelles in 2020 — Mykola Udianskyi and his longtime friend and business partner Bohdan Prylepa, with whom he launched Prof-it back in 2013, also founded two more exchanges: Tidex, registered in the Cayman Islands, and QMall, registered in Lithuania in 2021.
In late April 2024, Ukraine’s National Police, together with the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office, launched criminal case No. 120241000000000540 under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code — large-scale fraud committed by an organized group.
According to investigators, crypto exchange founders Mykola Udianskyi and Bohdan Prilepa scammed Ukrainian and foreign investors — including citizens of the EU and the U.S. — out of large sums of money. They allegedly did so with help from members of the russian criminal underworld, who helped them operate freely in the UAE and the EU.
The investigation identified at least 10 Ukrainian citizens who lost a total of 51,911 USDT on the QMall exchange because of fraudulent activity by Udianskyi and Prilepa. But the worst part came later.
On December 13, 2023, Udianskyi and Prilepa allegedly stole $390,000 that had been held on QMall. The funds were specifically raised to finance FPV drone production for the Ukrainian military.
A witness from the Armed Forces of Ukraine testified that he had arranged with Mykola Udianskyi for $500,000 in USDT to be sent to Udianskyi’s QMall account by foreign donors. The funds were intended to cover drone production. But after $110,000 was successfully withdrawn in December 2023, the rest of the account — and all remaining funds — was blocked. Apparently, by Udianskyi himself.
So what did the Honorary Consul of Romania in Kharkiv do? He tried to shift the blame onto his partner. When questioned by investigators, Udianskyi claimed that Prilepa had cut him out of decision-making at the exchanges. He also said that Prilepa gave instructions to two Ukrainian nationals — Andrii Saranenko and Pavlo Shydlovskyi — who were responsible for technical operations at the exchanges, including money transfers. According to Udianskyi, they were the ones who blocked his account holding the drone funds.
Several witnesses — all former employees of Udianskyi’s Prof-it company — backed up his version of events. Unsurprisingly, they all appear to be close to Udianskyi. One of them, Yaroslav Vikhariev, is listed in contacts on GetContact as “Yaroslav from Kolia Udianskyi”.
But here’s the problem: Udianskyi and Prilepa only had their supposed “falling out” after criminal charges were filed — in 2024. All through 2023, the two were still appearing side by side in puff pieces and PR campaigns promoting their donations to the military. Then, once prosecutors launched their investigation, suddenly only Prilepa started getting named in shady clickbait articles on scammy websites like Antikor — a site known for blackmailing people to pay $12,000 to remove defamatory articles.
At the same time, Udianskyi began giving interviews where he painted himself as the victim and pinned all responsibility on Prilepa. Notably, Udianskyi didn’t say a word about this back in December 2023 — when the funds for the military disappeared from his exchange. He only “spoke up” nearly a year later, once law enforcement got involved.
In short: the Honorary Consul of Romania decided to save his own reputation — by throwing his partner under the bus.
Luxury Cars and Real Estate Abroad: The Lavish Lifestyle of Consul Udianskyi
And it seems Udianskyi has pulled it off. Despite the scandals, criminal cases, and extensive ties to russia, he still holds his diplomatic title. One curious detail: in September 2023, the Honorary Consul of Romania in Kharkiv suddenly sold all of his Ukrainian real estate. That included two apartments in Kharkiv and another apartment with a parking space in central Kyiv, at 70-A Saksahanskoho Street.
Planning to leave the country, perhaps? If so, he already has a destination lined up. Back in 2019, Udianskyi issued a power of attorney to purchase an apartment in Thailand — specifically, in the city of Phuket, at 456/222 Moo6 Rawai Muang.
As of now, according to official registries, Mykola Udianskyi owns only one vehicle in Ukraine — a 2022 Lexus LX 500D. However, in July 2024, he issued a power of attorney authorizing a representative to purchase a car abroad on his behalf. This move strongly suggests that Udianskyi was seriously planning to flee the country, likely due to an ongoing criminal investigation into cryptocurrency exchange scams. Yet it seems he managed to “settle” the issue with law enforcement, at least for now — the escape plan appears to be on hold. Still, it’s clear that the honorary consul has no intention of tying his future to Ukraine.
That’s especially evident from the number of trips he’s made abroad. Officially, he only obtained legal grounds to leave Ukraine in May 2023, when a court acknowledged he had three children — despite the fact that his eldest daughter lives in russia. Nevertheless, Udianskyi freely traveled throughout 2022, visiting Dubai, Spain, Monaco, France, Italy, and Switzerland. In 2023 and 2024, he vacationed in Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, and also made trips to Romania, presumably for his consular duties.
His wife also doesn’t seem eager to stay in Ukraine under missile attacks. Her Instagram profile regularly features photos from Cannes, Monaco, Dubai, and Phuket, Thailand.
Still, 30-year-old Yana Udianska isn’t rushing to sell off her Ukrainian assets. She remains the listed owner of 11 land plots in Kharkiv region, all purchased in 2018, as well as three vehicles: two Volkswagen Transporters and a 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser. Despite that, she is often seen driving a more luxurious car — a 2022 Mercedes-Benz Maybach S580 with the flashy license plate AX7777TH.
That vehicle is registered to a company named Baumann LLC. Its co-owners include Valeriia Hulchuk — the wife of Mykola Udianskyi’s brother Andrii, who appears in contact apps as “Udianskyi’s Chief Accountant” and “Apartment from Kolia Udianskyi” — and A.A. Zaslavskyi, Mykola’s father-in-law. In August 2023, the honorary consul’s wife was seen driving this same Maybach around Monaco. The company also owns a Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG with license plate KH0001PP, a vehicle used by the Udianskyi family as well.
A lavish lifestyle like this requires serious income. And considering that most of Udianskyi’s cryptocurrency ventures eventually failed, the conclusion seems obvious: this luxury was funded through scams and fraudulent schemes run by the honorary consul of Romania in Kharkiv.
Moreover, the assets listed above are just a portion of what Udianskyi is believed to own. According to some sources, he also possesses real estate in the United Arab Emirates and Montenegro. In fact, in 2019, Ukrainian law enforcement discovered Leonid Mytrov — the fugitive leader of the Zalyutynski organized crime group — hiding in Udianskyi’s Montenegrin residence. He was later extradited to Ukraine.
And that’s just one chapter in the curious life of this Kharkiv-based diplomat. More details on Mykola Udianskyi’s ties to the criminal underworld — in the next part of our investigation.