Dictators’ Hideouts
Yanukovych’s Hidden Palace
S1 • E5 Jun 13, 2024 44m
Having siphoned billions from his people, Ukrainian dictator Viktor Yanukovych spent decades enriching himself and his cadre of oligarchs. In order to obscure his ill-gotten wealth, Yanukovych turned to Mezhyhirya, a sprawling 150-acre estate north of Kyiv. With Mezhyhirya in his grasp, Yanukovych ratchets his corruption to levels never seen before, in a scheme that spans multiple countries, numerous banks, and countless individuals. But when angry protesters storm the estate, they encounter excess on an entirely different level: an 18-hole golf course, a private zoo, a state-of-the-art laboratory, a private car museum, a luxury galleon-themed restaurant, and his piece de resistance, Honka House, a multi-million-dollar mansion connected to a secret tunnel. Can Mezhyhirya save Yanukovych from the wrath of the Ukrainian populace?