Former Ukrainian Member of Parliament from the Opposition Bloc 'Party of Regions' Dmytro Svyatash, who was sentenced in absentia in Ukraine to 12 years in prison, has been detained in Sweden. According to RBC-Ukraine, citing the Swedish publication Expressen and the 'Skhemy' project, he arrived in the country to attend a concert by American musician Stevie Wonder, but border guards denied him entry. Currently, the former MP is being held in a temporary detention center run by the Swedish Migration Agency.
Circumstances of Detention
Svyatash arrived in Sweden on October 22. During passport control, he was detained by the border police. Despite holding both Ukrainian and Russian citizenship, he presented a Ukrainian passport at border control. According to his lawyer Mark Safaryan, the grounds for refusing entry was a decision by Poland to ban re-entry, data on which had been entered into the common Schengen Area database. The defense lawyer calls this decision politically motivated and argues that the detention is groundless, since his client had the necessary documents and explained the purpose of his visit. The lawyer also stated that Svyatash is ready to return to Russia as quickly as possible on a private jet, and in his appeal, according to the lawyer, he objects to extradition to Ukraine.
Who is Dmytro Svyatash
Dmytro Svyatash served as a member of parliament for four convocations—from 2002 to 2019—representing the 'Party of Regions' and the 'Renaissance' party. According to Ukrainian investigators, he left for Russia in 2019, after which he was put on the wanted list. In December 2022, the SBU put him on the international wanted list on suspicion of encroaching on Ukraine's territorial integrity. According to the special service, he supported Russian aggression and called on residents of the occupied territories to cooperate with the occupiers and obtain Russian passports.
Criminal Cases and In Absentia Sentence
In the summer of 2024, Svyatash was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison for justifying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine and fraud amounting to 2.2 billion hryvnias. According to case materials, between 2008 and 2014, as the ultimate beneficiary of a group of automotive business companies, he organized a scheme to default on a bank loan exceeding $50 million. The defense appealed the verdict, and appellate proceedings are ongoing. Additionally, in May 2023, the SBU served him with a notice of suspicion of high treason: according to the investigation, after the start of the full-scale invasion, he transmitted information to former MP Oleh Tsaryov regarding the consequences of a Russian missile strike on the Kremenchuk Oil Refinery, and Tsaryov, law enforcement claim, passed this data on to the Russian side.
Assets, Sanctions, and Situation in Russia
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is seeking through the court to nationalize Svyatash's seized assets worth approximately 600 million hryvnias; in August 2022, this property was seized and transferred to the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA). In November 2023, the National Security and Defense Council imposed 10-year sanctions against the former MP. According to Russian databases, in November 2020, Svyatash acquired Russian citizenship in the Lipetsk region, and 'Skhemy' journalists established that he may reside in Moscow. In 2025, he acquired a 12.5% stake in the Moscow company MTD Holding, has been registered in Russia as an entrepreneur in automobile trade since 2022, and was declared bankrupt in August 2026.
