Skopje police detained Mile Penov, the man whose home address was used to provide a false residency to Ukrainian oligarch Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who received a Macedonian passport under a bogus scheme presenting him as a talented equestrian who can represent the country at an Olympics.

Penov attacked the crew of TV24 who were asking questions about the latest scandal in which a dubious or outright criminal figure was given a Macedonian passport under the SDSM led Government. Penov pushed the cameraman while the journalist was telling him that what he is doing is assault. He then flashed the crew.

The Interior Ministry remains coy about the scandal. A number of low level clerks were sentenced in the original scandal, when it was revealed that several hundred Macedonian passports were given to international drug runners, hitmen and drug money launderers. Onyshchenko is on an American black list and fled Ukraine in 2016 when he was suspected of money laundering. Since early 2022 he used the Macedonian passport, which allows easy travel through much of Europe, to conduct a jet set life meeting the likes of Paris Hilton and Elie Saab.