Serhiy Knyazev, chief of the National Police of Ukraine, announced his resignation on Sept. 24.
“I have decided to resign. I have just returned and filed my resignation to the minister,” Knyazev said at a briefing in Kyiv. “I believe that this is a step of a chief of police of a European country. The time has come. I have been honored (to serve you).”
Knyazev turned in his resignation just two days after his ex-wife Viktoria Knyazev was held up by Polish border guards together with her boss and employer, Vadym Kahan, for transporting about 500,000 euros in cash on Sept. 21. The Polish authorities demanded to see documents for proving the legality of the transported money.
According to Knyazev, the cash belonged to Kahan, which he got from a recent sale of commercial real estate in Kyiv. The police chief claimed that Kahan provided the border guards with the documents to prove the sale and “the incident was over.”
However, the Polish media reported that authorities opened a money laundering investigation, and that the four people that traveled in the car were detained.
The incident happened at Rava Ruska – Hrebenne crossing point in Western Ukraine, on the road leading to Warsaw.
Knyazev said that he and his ex-wife were targeted by a smear campaign, but gave no indication that it was connected to his resignation. The couple divorced eight years ago, according to the National Police spokesman Yaroslav Trakalo.
