Criminal group bribery and firearm threats
NABU and SAPO exposed a criminal group accused of "systematically bribing" senior law enforcement officials to secure protection for scam call centers and other illegal businesses. This follows a September investigation where NABU uncovered a scheme involving senior officials from the Prosecutor General’s Office, which brought down Ruslan Kravchenko and caused him to flee the country. I view these developments as a clear escalation. NABU reported that a senior SBU official obstructed searches and threatened to use a firearm. Ukrainska Pravda reports that Major General Serhii Duka, the first deputy head of the SBU’s Department for the Protection of National Statehood, was the official who made the threat. SBU special forces arrived at the scene. NABU called the security service steps "unacceptable" during the searches, which were conducted under a High Anti-Corruption Court warrant and targeted the premises of Colonel Anton Kravchenko, head of the SBU’s Main Directorate of Internal Security, and Oleksandr Kovalchuk. The investigation targets a network involving members of criminal groups and senior officials from the SBU, the National Police, and the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Long-running conflict and past detentions
The conflict between NABU and the SBU remains intense following the 2025 arrest of several NABU employees. The SBU described that operation as an effort to counter Russian influence within the bureau. The Anti-Corruption Action Center previously linked Major General Serhii Duka to searches targeting NABU detectives, including Ruslan Mahamedrasulov, who had been investigating Ukraine’s largest corruption case involving the state-run nuclear power monopoly Energoatom. I find the SBU’s role in these previous detentions highly questionable because the court released the two detectives and closed the case after critics called the arrests a political vendetta. This friction stems from the government’s attempt last summer to curb the independence of anti-corruption agencies, which triggered nationwide protests. While the SBU has not commented on the current allegations, the agency continues to report pressure from the security service. This ongoing struggle involves many senior officials and allies of President Volodymyr Zelensky. The security service arrested several NABU employees in 2025 because of alleged links to Russia.
