Not everyone in Ukraine is struggling during the war. With each investigation we publish, we’re less and less surprised to see that full-scale war is not only a time when millions lose their homes, property and even their lives, but also a time when some people spend millions… of US dollars on luxury living.
In our investigation about 26-year-old Vladyslav Myroshnychenko, a hookah server and bartender from Kharkiv who suddenly became a dollar millionaire during the war and ignores taxes, we mentioned his friends and business partners. As it turns out, Myroshnychenko isn’t the only one making huge profits during russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His friends Mykhailo Uvarov and Yevhen Trusov are also doing well.
How fraudster and abuser Mykhailo Uvarov got rich during the war
40-year-old Kharkiv resident Mykhailo Uvarov, known as “The Frenchman,” makes his money, according to BlackBox OSINT, through illegal call center operations that scam people over the phone. But he’s also well known for his long list of legal troubles. He’s been a suspect and wanted for serious crimes, implicated in large-scale theft, car robberies, and even an attack on police officers who tried to detain him. Uvarov has also appeared in numerous administrative and civil cases, including domestic violence charges filed by his wife, Kateryna Yevtushenko.
Back in 2022, Kateryna posted videos on social media saying she’d been trying to escape Uvarov for five years. She said he regularly threatened to kill or cripple her. He was detained, but, as often happens in Ukraine, released shortly afterward.
Today, Uvarov still hasn’t faced any consequences. He continues to live carefree, driving luxury cars, living in premium homes, and traveling abroad freely — even under martial law. And the most outrageous part? Uvarov now shows up in the news not as a criminal but as a “philanthropist” and a sports official. On January 20, 2025, he was named honorary head of the Kyiv Regional Branch of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. Makes you wonder, how much does a title like that cost?
But the most curious part? Uvarov’s wife Kateryna, the same woman who once begged for help online, saying she was trapped in an abusive relationship, got so rich during the war that she apparently no longer wants saving. Time heals, they say. Or maybe it’s just money.
According to the State Register of Property Rights, Kateryna Yevtushenko is now the proud owner of a large 210-square-meter house in the village of Lebedivka, Vyshhorod district near Kyiv — inside the upscale GoldFish cottage community. The property sits on a 0.0623-hectare plot of land, which also belongs to her. She bought it not long ago — on April 3, 2024.
Based on current market prices, a basic unfinished house of that size in GoldFish costs around $280,000. Fully renovated it goes for no less than $500,000.
According to YouControl, Kateryna Yevtushenko currently owns two luxury cars. One is a 2024 Land Rover Range Rover, registered in her name since August 18, 2024, with an average market value of $250,000. The other is a 2023 BMW Alpina XB7, registered since March 19, 2025, also worth around $250,000.
Apparently, for about a million dollars in “gifts,” you can overlook domestic abuse and your husband’s criminal past too. Today, Uvarov’s social media is filled with cozy photos of his kids and sentimental posts about his “loving wife”. A million dollars, earned through fraud and laundered via a house and luxury cars, can do wonders. We wonder if it will also help Uvarov clean up his image and turn from a domestic abuser and scammer into a respectable head of Kyiv’s Olympic Committee, a caring father, and a generous philanthropist.
How bodyguard and athlete Yevhen Trusov became a businessman
The life of Uvarov’s friend, 31-year-old Yevhen Trusov from the town of Berestyn (formerly Krasnohrad) in Kharkiv region, also changed completely. Before marrying Anna Denysenko from Mala Danylivka in 2021, Trusov lived like many Ukrainians — balancing a modest athletic career with odd jobs as a bodyguard, driver, coach, and rehab specialist. According to his Instagram page, he worked at the Bubnovsky Rehabilitation Center from October 2019 until April 2020, where he promised to “eliminate pain in the neck, back, and joints”.
But in 2022, as the full-scale war began, Trusov suddenly turned businessman. On September 13, 2022, he registered as a sole proprietor focused on computer programming. Then on October 18, 2023, he founded a company called “Bilyardna” — a food venue on 21 Velyka Zhytomyrska Street in Kyiv. In March 2024, he became head of the NGO “Rugby Club Kyiv”, and in May 2024, co-founded “Eco Sapropel”, a company that supposedly produces fertilizers and nitrogen compounds.
And he didn’t stop there. On June 7, 2024, Trusov launched another venture — an ad agency called “Community Cloud Keeper”. He also founded “Ikigai Group” on February 20, 2024, with the stated business being real estate leasing and management. Notably, two of the co-founders are familiar names: Mykhailo Uvarov and Vladyslav Myroshnychenko.
But what is interesting — according to official financial reports, almost all of these companies are either inactive or operating at a loss. “Bilyardna,” which employs three people, ended 2024 with nearly half a million hryvnias in losses, despite a reported turnover of 2.7 million.
The company “Eco Sapropel” had zero revenue in 2024 and ended the year with a loss of ₴800,000.
“Ikigai Group” also operated at a loss: with an authorized capital of ₴16.7 million, the company, which officially has only one employee, made no money in 2024 and finished the year with a loss of ₴80,000.
The only one of Trusov’s newly registered companies that made any money was the advertising agency “Community Cloud Keeper”. According to its financial report, in 2024 the agency, with two employees on staff, earned just over ₴2 million with a turnover of ₴2.5 million.
So far, it doesn’t look like Yevhen Trusov has had much success in business — assuming these companies are real businesses and not just legal covers for something else. Either way, Trusov has had no official source of income large enough to explain sudden wealth. And since there’s no real estate or cars officially registered to his name, it almost seems like there’s nothing to question. But there are a few “buts”.
How Yuliia Trusova, mother of Yevhen Trusov, acquired property during the war
While Trusov has been busy registering unprofitable companies, his mother Yuliia Trusova, who lives in the town of Berestyn in Kharkiv region, has been acquiring property and vehicles. According to the State Register of Property Rights, on June 26, 2024, Yuliia Trusova purchased a 34-square-meter apartment in Berestyn, worth around $20,000. A few months later, in October 2024, she acquired another plot of land (0.1 hectares) in the same town along with a residential house on it measuring 103.6 square meters — together worth at least $40,000. According to YouControl, on January 30, 2024, she also became the owner of a 2017 Mazda CX-5, which typically sells for at least $20,000 today.
Yuliia Trusova is an ordinary resident of a small district town. She has no business ownership and is not registered as an entrepreneur. So it seems likely that the source of her sudden access to real estate and a vehicle in 2024 is her son — the owner of loss-making businesses.
How Anna Denysenko made $6 million in real estate and cars during wartime
But Yevhen Trusov’s wife Anna Denysenko is doing even better. Over the past year, mostly in 2024, she managed to become the owner of a large portfolio of real estate and cars, worth more than (attention!) six million US dollars, all by the age of 30.
According to the State Register of Property Rights, on September 26, 2024, Anna Denysenko purchased two plots of land on Vasylkivska Street in the village of Neshcheriv, Kyiv region. The first plot, measuring 0.46 hectares, cost her about $46,000, and the second plot, 0.2 hectares, around $20,000. On the same day, she also bought a residential house located on these plots, with a total area of 57.3 square meters. The combined value of the land and the house is about $75,000.
In addition, Anna Trusova owns several commercial properties in Kharkiv. In November 2023, she purchased 94 square meters of non-residential space on the ground floor of a building at 11 Nauky Avenue. The property cost her about $113,000. Another purchase, made on October 27, 2023, included a basement and ground-floor space totaling 111.8 square meters at 33A Yaroslav Mudryi Street, for around $134,000.
Her most valuable assets are located at 140A Poltavskyi Shlyakh Street in Kharkiv. In 2018, she became the owner of two large properties at this address: one measuring 753.4 square meters, worth about $1,024,624, and another with a massive area of 3,328 square meters, valued at roughly $4.5 million. Denysenko also owns a 0.2123-hectare plot of land near a lake in the Derhachi district of Kharkiv region, which she purchased on March 20, 2017, for about $36,000 at the time.
According to YouControl, Anna Trusova also owns two cars. In 2016, she bought a 2013 Mercedes-Benz ML 250 CDI 4Matic, valued at around $25,000. In 2025, she added a green 2025 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid to her garage, which costs upwards of $135,000.
Not bad for a 30-year-old woman from the village of Mala Danylivka in Kharkiv region, right? Her only known official source of income is a private business (FOP), registered in 2012, with its main activity listed as “comfort services”, whatever that means. But most business owners in Ukraine would agree: it’s nearly impossible to earn over $6 million through such a business alone. So, where did all the money come from?
Call centers and crypto: what Yevhen Trusov and Anna Denysenko are really doing
The GetContact app, which shows how a phone number is saved in other people’s contact lists, often reveals a lot of useful information. Trusov’s number, for example, is listed under names like “Yevhen Rehabilitator”, “Yevhen Azov Activist”, and “Zhenia Security Altbir”. But it also shows up as “Zhenia Office Kharkiv” and “Zhenia Offices”.
In Ukraine, “offices” is a common slang term for illegal call centers — the kind that scam people over the phone by tricking them into sending money. These are the same kinds of operations that scandal-plagued MP Mykola Tyshchenko once pretended to “crack down on” for PR. As mentioned earlier, Trusov’s friend and business partner Mykhailo Uvarov is deeply involved in these call centers.
As for Trusov’s wife, Anna’s phone number in GetContact comes with some equally telling tags: “Anna Assistant SA”, “Anna Crypto Investor Dubai”, “Anna SA Secretary Kyiv”, “Wife of an Investor”, “Anna from Serhii Oleksiyovych”, “Eurotrade Secretary SA”, “Anna Exchange 60 People”, and “Anna Dyrdin’s Assistant”. These suggest three things: first, Anna Denysenko either worked or still works as assistant or secretary to a certain Serhii Dyrdin; second, she is involved in crypto; and third, her husband Yevhen is likely involved in it too.
None of this is surprising, considering that Trusov is a close friend of Vladyslav Myroshnychenko — the guy who turned his crypto earnings into a fortune, splurging on luxury real estate and expensive cars while skipping taxes. So, this could be the first clue as to where all those millions came from during wartime.
But let’s take a closer look at Serhii Dyrdin. He and a Cyprus-based company called Doisinda Ltd are the owners and founders of a Ukrainian company called UkrEuroStroy, which sells timber, construction materials, and plumbing equipment. This firm has repeatedly appeared in criminal cases related to tax evasion, including case No. 42018000000002780 from November 7, 2018, and No. 42019210000000153 from September 10, 2019.
And guess what? The 2018 Porsche Cayenne that Yevhen Trusov drives around Kyiv, regularly violating traffic laws and catching police attention, is registered to none other than this very company. That’s right, Trusov, the husband of Dyrdin’s assistant, drives a Porsche tied to a firm with a history of shady dealings.
How Anna Denysenko’s parents made money from scam schemes
What’s even more interesting, it’s not just Yevhen Trusov and his wife Anna Denysenko who are tied to Serhii Dyrdin. Turns out, Anna’s mother, Tamara Denysenko, is also in on it. Dyrdin’s wife, Svitlana Dyrdina, who used to be chief legal adviser at the National Bank of Ukraine in 2016–2017, co-founded a company called “Soldat 2020” together with Tamara.
And this is where we arrive at the second major theory behind the couple’s sudden wartime millions: shady real estate deals, thanks to Anna’s parents.
Let’s start with “Soldat 2020”, which was the key player in criminal case No. 12020220000000037, opened on January 15, 2020. Investigators found that between 2019 and 2020, the director of another company, PFC Khrystyna LTD, signed bogus contracts with “Soldat 2020”, allowing the latter to illegally take possession of several commercial properties that belonged to PFC Khrystyna.
The scheme was simple: the director of PFC Khrystyna, without the founders’ knowledge or approval, sold prime commercial space in central Kharkiv (at 11 Nauky Ave. and 33A Yaroslava Mudroho St.) to “Soldat 2020”, the freshly registered company owned by Tamara Denysenko and Svitlana Dyrdina. These properties were the company’s main source of income — and suddenly, they were gone.
Suspiciously, “Soldat 2020” was registered on December 2, 2019, and just one day later, it became the official owner of the PFC Khrystyna properties. If that doesn’t scream “fraud”, we don’t know what does.
Initially, the court froze the properties now owned by Tamara Denysenko. But on December 12, 2022, a judge lifted the freeze, and on January 24, 2023, another court refused to even consider an appeal filed by the original property owners. Just like that, the valuable downtown real estate was secured, likely thanks to corruption, and later, those same properties were quietly re-registered in Anna Denysenko’s name. A neat little family arrangement.
But that’s not the only shady deal the Denysenko clan is involved in. The family also owns a farming business called “Denysenko”, which operates in freshwater fishing. The firm hasn’t filed any financial reports — ever — but it did show up in a criminal case (No. 42017221280000022 from March 30, 2017). According to the case file, from July to December 2014, the company illegally used water from the Lozovenkivske Reservoir without a permit and without paying environmental fees, causing environmental and financial damages of about 230,000 UAH.
Even more telling, investigators found that the company’s water pumping equipment was actually located at 28 Zelenа Street in Mala Danylivka — on a massive 10.72-hectare plot of land with a 420 m² residential house. Both the land and the house are registered to Anna Denysenko.
And these are probably just the fraud cases that made it into official police records. Because the rest of Anna Denysenko’s multi-million-dollar real estate empire, aside from the properties seized from PFC Khrystyna, still needs explaining. And not just hers, but her parents’ as well.
Turns out Tamara and Oleksandr Denysenko aren’t doing too badly themselves. According to Ukraine’s property registry, they own 17 land plots covering more than 18 hectares in Mala Danylivka, 16 commercial properties in Kharkiv and Mala Danylivka totaling 3,439.5 m², an apartment in Kharkiv, and two houses — one in Kharkiv and one back home in their village. Altogether, their real estate is worth an estimated $3 million.
So if you add that to Anna Denysenko’s portfolio, the family is sitting on at least $9 million worth of property — all while Yevhen Trusov is officially broke and his businesses are running at a loss.
How the Denysenko fraud family uses a military charity linked to the KRAKEN group
These days, the Denysenko family, together with Yevhen Trusov and his buddies, have discovered the magic of “charity”. Or rather, the magic of a charity fund.
Back in 1999, there was a small foundation called the “Kharkiv Regional Charity Fund for Humanitarian Aid”. In February 2023, it quietly changed hands and landed in the lap of a now-familiar trio: Yevhen Trusov, Mykhailo Uvarov, and Vitalii Dukhopelov. They registered themselves as co-founders, with their buddy Vladyslav Myroshnychenko, the hookah guy turned crypto millionaire, installed as director. They rebranded the fund as “Fund 1654”, and its Instagram account began pumping out content about supporting the KRAKEN military group. The group’s official website even now lists “Fund 1654” as its affiliated charity. Sounds noble, right?
Except BlackBox OSINT discovered that this charity is allegedly being used to funnel large amounts of money — some of which likely comes from illegal sources. The idea? Use the fund as a cover to launder dirty money under the guise of helping Ukraine’s defenders. And in doing so, earn the protection of security forces. A win-win — if you’re running scams.
Naturally, the Denysenko family plays a central role in all this. Before February 13, 2018, Anna Denysenko was listed as the fund’s official beneficiary. Her parents, Tamara and Oleksandr Denysenko, have long been tied to shady operations involving the organization.
One criminal case, No. 12014220510003006, opened on November 12, 2014, reveals one such scam. According to investigators, the foundation, together with Tamara Denysenko’s private business, managed to steal over €54,000 worth of commercial kitchen equipment. The shipment was delivered to 140A Poltavskyi Shliakh Street — the fund’s registered address.
Here’s what happened: the supplier, “Tekhnolohiyi Obladnannia”, had signed a supply contract with “Barvinok” LLC for over 1.2 million UAH worth of equipment. But after the shipment arrived, it somehow ended up with Tamara Denysenko’s private firm, allegedly just for “temporary storage”. When the rightful owners tried to reclaim it, an unknown man locked them inside the premises — and the equipment conveniently stayed in the fund’s hands.
Another case, No. 12019220510003059, opened on December 20, 2019, shows that the same address (140A Poltavskyi Shliakh) also housed an illegal gambling. A “Sportloto” sign even hung above the entrance. At the time, Tamara Denysenko was the fund’s official representative, and its founders were Halyna and Vitalii Ishchenko, whom we believe may be relatives of the Denysenko family. One number in GetContact, tied to a man named Oleksandr Ishchenko, had tags like “Sasha Denysenko” and “Fat Sanya 1”. Coincidence? Probably not.
So it turns out the masterminds behind the Trusov–Uvarov–Myroshnychenko triangle aren’t the boys at all. The real power players are Anna Denysenko’s parents, Tamara and Oleksandr, a couple from the village of Mala Danylivka who built their wealth on property scams, illegal land grabs, fake “humanitarian” schemes, and money laundering operations.
Their daughter, Anna, likely reinvests that dirty cash not just in land, luxury homes, and expensive cars, but also in cryptocurrency. And her husband Yevhen Trusov? Once a simple rehab therapist, he gave up his day job after marrying into the family and joined the crew, bringing his own shady friends along for the ride.
So if you’re wondering how some people manage to strike it rich during wartime, the Denysenko clan just gave us one more answer.