Soviet Border Troops
Born in Mukacheve Raion in the Zakarpattia Oblast, Heletey worked briefly as an electrical mechanic at a local truck company before being drafted into the Soviet Armed Forces in 1985; he served in the Soviet Border Troops. In March 1988 Heletey started a career in the police (MVS) and in 1994 graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Internal Affairs (higher police academy) in Kyiv. After that he worked until 2006 for the police department, specializing in the fight against organized crime (HUBOZ) for the city of Kyiv.