Iryna Kostyushko, a deputy of the Zhytomyr Regional Council and CEO of «Zorya Agro Group»—one of Ukraine’s largest flax producers—holds active Russian citizenship. According to database records and passport verification services in the Russian Federation, at least two Russian passports issued in her name remain valid today.
Kostyushko’s political affiliations have shifted across several election cycles. In April of this year, she withdrew from the «Propozytsiya» faction, citing «personal choice and political disagreements.» Her political path began in 2015 as a first-past-the-post candidate in the Korosten district before joining the then-ruling «BPP» party, where she served as an official representative for the fifth president of Ukraine in one of Zhytomyr’s constituencies. In 2020, she joined a project led by regional figures alongside former Zhytomyr Regional State Administration head Ihor Hundych
Biographical data shows that Kostyushko attended school in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Russia), studied at a medical college in Kazakhstan, and enrolled in the Khabarovsk Medical Institute. In the early 1990s, she transferred to Kyiv to qualify as a gynecologist. By the early 2010s, she managed a pharmacy chain before completing business school and radically shifting focus to launch «Zorya» on the foundation of a local farm in the Zhytomyr region. She also previously owned the «Italidze» restaurant in Kyiv.
“According to Russian passport verification service records, both documents registered under Kostyushko’s name remain active. Furthermore, records show a separate application for Russian citizenship was filed as early as 2009 under the name Iryna Myronyuk (Kostyushko).”
Leaked database records indicate that one of her passports was issued via the Russian Embassy in Kyiv, carrying a series code (51 15) corresponding to the former Koryak Autonomous Okrug (now part of Kamchatka Krai, Russia). Banking records, including client profile details from as late as 2018, show she was registered as a Russian citizen while receiving financial services.
Analysts and investigative sources highlight the need for scrutiny regarding the import-export partners of «Zorya Agro Group,» the legitimacy of VAT refunds on exports, and connections surrounding her British firm, PHARMATRIALS GROUP (UK) LTD, which was purchased from Anatoly Shlyusaver—father of Russian developer Vladimir Shlyusaver.