Nazariy Gusakov

Nazariy Gusakov is a Lviv resident who was diagnosed with SMA at the age of 1 year and 2 months. 

Spinal muscular atrophy is a severe rare genetic disease that affects the nerve cells of the spinal cord responsible for movement. Over time, a person loses mobility and cannot take care of themselves. 

There is no cure for the disease, but there are drugs that can increase production of the SMN protein, which is vital for the survival of motor neurons. SMA is caused by a genetic defect in the SMN1 gene, which contains the SMN protein. Patients are deficient in this protein. 

What is known about the scandal involving Nazariy Gusakov 

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said that from June 2024 Nazariy Gusakov received medication from the city free of charge, but later resumed fundraising. 

The scandal broke out when social media users began demanding an accounting for the money. Nazariy Gusakov explained that he often bought the medication unofficially, and paid for rehabilitation services and household needs in the same way. 

At the same time, the media wrote about the Lviv resident's crypto wallet, with total transactions of 5 million 135 thousand dollars over almost 3 years. Gusakov explained: "This is the money of people who ran their winnings through it, either from poker or from betting". 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that at least four financial institutions and many digital services had been used. According to the president, Gusakov left the territory of Ukraine on June 13, 2025. 

The police opened cases under articles on fraud and legalization (laundering) of proceeds of crime.