Travel restrictions imposed on MP following suspected vacation during wartime

The Pechersk Court in Kyiv imposed travel restrictions on Oleksandr Dubinsky on Aug. 10. The lawmaker is currently under investigation for a vacation abroad during wartime.

Dubinsky is not allowed to leave Kyiv Oblast without permission from a judge, must hand in his passport, and must wear an electronic bracelet until Oct. 8.

After Russia launched it's all out war, Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 years of age are not allowed to leave the country without a special permit from state authorities.

He is also required to appear in court at the request of the prosecutor and investigating judge, and must inform the investigation if he is to change his place of residence or employment.

The MP said on Aug. 9 that he was suspected of falsifying official documents in a case related to his recent travel abroad.

Dubinsky said he received permission to leave the country legally at the end of June.

However, investigators believe that the MP traveled abroad under the pretext of accompanying his father for medical treatment outside of Ukraine. Dubinsky's father went abroad without him and returned to Ukraine before the lawmaker.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, his trip became public when a Health Ministry document requesting his permission to travel was leaked. He was supposed to return by July 10, but at the end of July he was featured in an Instagram post by his girlfriend who was on holiday in Barcelona.

He allegedly spent several weeks on holiday in Italy, Croatia, and Spain in July.

On Aug. 3, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and State Bureau of Investigation announced they were investigating the lawmaker. On Aug. 5, media reports emerged that the the Bureau had searched the office of Volodymyr Kolodiuk, Dubinsky's assistant.

The forgery charge relates to how the MP "was able to sign and send official documents" during his stay abroad. The evidence of Dubinsky not being in Ukraine on the days the documents were signed "may indicate their forgery," the Bureau said.

The independent MP was removed from President Volodymyr Zelensky Servant of the People party in 2021 for "violating the statute and disobeying the party's governing bodies."

He has repeated said since the beginning of the investigation that the charges are politically motivated.

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