"Authoritative businessman" Manukyan returns to Ukraine. PHOTO
In mid-September 2025, 42-year-old businessman Volodymyr Manukyan, a native of Yenakiieve known for his close ties to criminal circles, arrived in Ukraine after a long absence.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the Detective-Info project, citing its own sources.
According to insiders, Manukyan had previously been abroad, mainly in the UAE, but also appeared in Poland and the Czech Republic. According to experts, his return to Ukraine could hardly have taken place without the support of at least one domestic security agency.
De jure, Manukyan is a beneficiary of a number of companies in the energy, real estate, mining and agribusiness sectors, some of which are registered in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk region. At the same time, there is speculation that his personal presence is linked to a possible redistribution of spheres of influence in Kharkiv and the border regions.
During his years abroad, Manukyan has repeatedly been the subject of criticism and suspicion of links with Russia and local criminal authorities. The media accused the businessman of possible ties with Russia and visits to the territory of the aggressor state. Attention was also drawn to his contacts with former influential political and criminal figures, including Yurii Ivaniushchenko ("Yura Yenakiievskyi"), a member of the 6th-7th convocations of the Ukrainian parliament, Armen Sargsyan ("Armen Horlivskyi") and Vilen Shatvorian, a member of the 8th convocation of the Ukrainian parliament.
After the events of Euromaidan and the partial occupation of Donbas in 2014, Manukyan was considered the frontman of the shadow expansion of Kharkiv region by the 'Donetsk' side. In 2016, the confrontation between his group, whose combat wing was headed by his long-time associate Oleksandr Mavrin ("Mantus"), and local criminal mastermind Vadym Kazartsev ("Kniaz") was confirmed by the then Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov.
The conflict was accompanied by a series of attacks, assassination attempts and murders in Kharkiv among government officials and criminal circles. The confrontation ended with the deterioration of Kniaz's health, his departure abroad and his subsequent death in Germany in autumn 2020.
Despite losing some of his influence after the 2019 presidential election, Volodymyr Manukyan continued to maintain his position in business and criminal circles. A 52-year-old Georgian native and Russian citizen, Nodar Asoyan, known as "Nodar Rustavsky", became a significant ally for him.
In Ukrainian courts, his interests were represented by former employee of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office Oleh Koinash, who is also a co-founder of the "Gedeon Donbas" SC NGO in Shakhtarsk, where his partner is Oleksandr Mavrin ("Mantus").
