In mid-July, 48-year-old Yuriy Aristov, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, MP of the Servant of the People party, was spotted at the 5-star Waldorf Astoria Maldives hotel, located on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives. Slidstvo.Info journalists found out about this from their own sources.
Yuriy Aristov
To verify the information received, the journalists of Slidstvo.Info called the number of the Maldivian hotel listed on its website.
Employees of the resort confirmed that Yuriy Aristov was indeed their guest, but had already checked out. The dialogue with the hotel’s receptionist is reproduced below:
W.: According to our information, Yuri Aristov has checked into your hotel. Could it be that he was your guest last week?
WA: He is not at the hotel at the moment.
W.: Perhaps you can check that he has checked out of the hotel?
WA: Yes, they have checked out.
The Waldorf Astoria Maldives is a 5-star resort located “amidst white sands and crystal blue waters” on the largest island of the Maldives. The resort has 119 villas for a “unique and unforgettable holiday”.
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- Waldorf Astoria Maldives, a 5-star hotel located on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives
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- Waldorf Astoria Maldives, a 5-star hotel located on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives
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- Waldorf Astoria Maldives, a 5-star hotel located on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives
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- Waldorf Astoria Maldives, a 5-star hotel located on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives
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- Waldorf Astoria Maldives, a 5-star hotel located on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives
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- Waldorf Astoria Maldives, a 5-star hotel located on the private island of Ithaafushi, Maldives
The cost of accommodation for two people for one night in this Maldivian hotel, according to the prices on Booking.com, varies from 100 thousand hryvnias for a villa on the beach with a swimming pool and a double bed and up to 323 thousand hryvnias for a villa with two bedrooms and a swimming pool. The hotel also has a position for more than a million hryvnias for one night – with three bedrooms, swimming pools and access to the beach. It is not known which villa the Ukrainian MP was staying in.
After we confirmed the politician’s stay at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, we called him personally. But Yuriy Aristov did not pick up the phone. Instead, we received a call from his press secretary Oksana Omelchenko (this is how the woman signed in one of the messengers), who could not answer journalists’ questions about where her boss was at the moment – in Ukraine or in the Maldives – and asked us to send a journalistic request. Despite the promise to respond to the request in a few hours, both the assistant and the MP himself ignored further attempts by Slidstvo.Info journalists to get answers to the questions sent. In particular, on what grounds the 48-year-old MP crossed the Ukrainian border and whether his trip to the Maldives was a business trip.
Slidstvo.Info journalists also contacted the MP’s wife, Maryna Aristova. The woman said that Aristov was in Vilnius, and added that “she has her own personal life, and her husband has his own”.
It should be noted that on 7 July, Yuri Aristov posted pictures from Vilnius (Lithuania) on his Facebook page. He probably went there on a diplomatic mission. This is evidenced by the caption under the photos: “The Seimas Defence Committee discussed the delivery of Nasams systems that Lithuania purchased for the Ukrainian army.”
In 2019, Yuriy Aristov was elected as a Member of Parliament of the 9th convocation from the Servant of the People party and is a member of the eponymous faction. In December 2022, Yuriy Aristov was elected Deputy Chairman of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence.
Slidstvo.Info journalists analysed the politician’s last declaration for 2020. The family income was just over UAH 9 million. In addition, the MP’s wife, Maryna Aristova, a former TV presenter and current motivational speaker, owned a 2019 Porsche Macan R4 II, and Yurii Yuriiovych himself rented a 2019 Range Rover. According to the main service centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Yuriy Aristov currently owns a 2013 RANGE ROVER EVOQUE, which is not listed in the “servant’s” declaration.
Earlier, journalists have already written about the MP’s love for exotic islands. In particular, last year, during the Verkhovna Rada’s winter holidays, Aristov flew to the island of Zanzibar in Africa. The cost of a tour for the whole family in a four-star hotel starts at UAH 170,000.
In January 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded the public about the conditions for officials or MPs to travel abroad. At the time, Zelenskyy stressed that any trip abroad by MPs should be in accordance with the relevant decision of the National Security and Defence Council.
Before being elected to the Verkhovna Rada, Yuriy Aristov was a business partner of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the fish and seafood business.
