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Ігор Вишневський That's Life
20 June 2025, 15:56
2025-06-20
"This is money from people who spent their winnings either from poker or from betting." A Lviv man with spinal muscular atrophy, to whom the whole country donated, explained the origin of the millions on his crypto wallet. The background to the high-profile scandal
In recent days, the scandalous story of Nazariy Gusakov, a boy with a rare disease called SMA (spinal muscular atrophy), for whom Ukrainians have been collecting donations on a massive scale both through social networks and the media, as well as with the assistance of many top bloggers, politicians, show business representatives, and other public figures, has not subsided.
Journalists found out that the funds that Nazariy received as a result of the meetings allegedly significantly exceeded the needs for his treatment, not to mention the fact that part of the medications were provided by the Lviv City Council.
In recent days, the scandalous story of Nazariy Gusakov, a boy with a rare disease called SMA (spinal muscular atrophy), for whom Ukrainians have been collecting donations on a massive scale both through social networks and the media, as well as with the assistance of many top bloggers, politicians, show business representatives, and other public figures, has not subsided.
Journalists found out that the funds that Nazariy received as a result of the meetings allegedly significantly exceeded the needs for his treatment, not to mention the fact that part of the medications were provided by the Lviv City Council.
What’s worse, it turned out that millions of dollars were being deposited into Nazariy’s crypto wallet, not even in hryvnias, but in dollars, and he himself is involved in the world of online poker and online casinos.
«People came to me and asked for help»
According to the regional publication LVIV.MEDIA, dozens of transactions totaling over $5 million were made through Nazariy’s crypto wallets on the Binance and FTX exchanges from July 2022 to May 2025. Gusakov explained their approval by saying that this was the money of outsiders who were driving away their winnings from online poker and betting in online casinos, and he himself received a commission percentage from this.
«I don’t know these people by name. People came to me and asked for help, if I was interested in earning some money, then the funds would go through my account. The main condition was that it would go through my account, and that way I would be able to have additional funds for treatment. I had three or five percent,» he says in a comment to LVIV.MEDIA.
According to Gusakov, he sent significant amounts of money to his customers, and often exchanged these funds for cash through «exchangers», following instructions.
The Lviv resident also stated that he received inquiries from crypto exchanges regarding the origin of the money, but the funds in his crypto wallets or account were not blocked.
The boy with SMA added that he also received donations to the same crypto wallets, but their amounts were small.
«My biggest problem is that I never segregated my own funds»
In a comment to «Sospilny», Nazariy Gusakov admitted that, as he sees it, the main problem in this scandalous story is that he did not distribute his funds «earned» in such cooperation with online casino players, and the donations that people sent him for treatment.
«My biggest problem, and I admit it, is that I never separated my own funds, earnings, personal assistance to me. Here is this very poker player — he helps me with a crypto wallet every month, and I never separated. I simply treated those funds as help for myself, so that I could live as long as possible,» Nazariy explains his position. He notes that the funds for the crypto wallet were transferred to him by «poker players from Latvia,» at the expense of which he supposedly underwent treatment for approximately 6-10 months.
As for the medicines, according to Nazariy, he allegedly purchased many of them unofficially.
«I always looked for it wherever I could. It wasn’t officially purchased. Somewhere I had some banks, someone helped me, had a savings and I bought it. Somewhere the dates were already running out and in order not to throw it away, people often need the same rehabilitation as me, because „Evrisdi“ alone doesn’t give anything,» explains Nazariy.
What medicines does he need and how much does the city council provide?
The head of the Lviv City Health Department, Marta Matyushko, noted that since June 2024, Nazariy Gusakov has been a participant in the program to provide medicines to patients with spinal muscular atrophy.
The official explained that the number of vials of the drug for program participants depends on the medical report provided by the Institute of Hereditary Pathology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. According to it, Nazariy is provided with three vials per month.
«In 2024, 14 vials of the drug were purchased for him, the same amount was provided by the Roche company. And at the end of 2024, we also received 8 vials of the drug for him centrally from the state budget. Last year, UAH 3.4 million was spent from the city budget on the purchase of those 14 vials. This year, 10 vials of the drug have already been purchased for him, it cost almost UAH 2.5 million. The Roche company will also provide us with 10 vials,» Matyushko explained in a comment to Suspilny.
The medicine that Nazariy needs. Screenshot from the website
Previously, Nazariy Gusakov himself said in an interview that he needs 2,000 euros per month for medication. One dose of the drug he takes costs approximately 270,000 UAH per bottle in pharmacies, and Nazariy claimed that he needs from 40 to 48 bottles per year, as well as other rehabilitation and treatment, in addition to this.
What gave rise to the suspicions and what Nazariy had previously been doing
According to «Detector Media», in the Ukrainian segment X, a user under the nickname «Typova domohospodaraka» reported that she asked Nazariy to provide collection reports, to which she received an evasive answer from him. Also, according to her, Nazariy dropped a check for a money transfer to FOP Denis Ch., but checking his phone number in Getcontact showed that this user is signed there as «Denys Bandery 35 Exchanger», «Denys Obmin Valyut Bandery», «Lviv Denys Obmin», so, most likely, he has nothing to do with the purchase of medicines.
Since well-known Ukrainian media figures, in particular the Bihus.Info team and Mykhailo Tkach, also raised funds for Nazariy’s treatment, they also began to receive inquiries about the spending of these funds.
Netizens, in turn, provided screenshots of Nazariy’s sports betting and online casino activities, even on Russian platforms.
According to media reports, Nazariy Gusakov worked as a communications manager for the esports team NAVI (Natus Vincere), and also, at one time, in several startups in the customer support position. He was also an analyst at 1xbet and leonbet and an ambassador for UPEA (Ukrainian Professional Esports Association).
Nazariy Gusakov himself responded to the scandal on his own Facebook, noting that his condition is poor, and he lost his job at NAVI, losing his only monthly income. He also urged not to donate to him now, because he is not saving for anything at the moment, although the funds continue to come in.
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