The Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC) has stated that the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) lied in an official statement regarding searches of former National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) detectives, who currently work in Ukrzaliznytsia’s internal security, and stressed that such actions are part of a campaign against anti-corruption bodies. Ukraliznytsia is a Ukrainian state-run railway operator.
Source: AntAC, citing the court warrant authorising the searches
Quote from AntAC: "These searches are part of Zelenskyy’s campaign to discredit NABU and AntAC. Among the former detectives whose homes were searched is the brother of Olena Shcherban, a board member of AntAC, and the brother of Ruslan Mahamedrasulov’s lawyer – Taras Likunov.
He was the one handling the case of Artem Shylo at the Bureau. The SSU lied in its official communication regarding the searches." [Shylo is a former adviser to the President’s Office and former head of the Security Service’s Main Directorate for Counterintelligence Protection of State Interests in Economic Security – ed.]
Details: Shcherban reiterated that in its official statement, the SSU claimed that the searches were being conducted “in a criminal case concerning abuses in Ukrzaliznytsia’s freight transport sector”.
“But this is a total lie. In the court order authorising the search of my brother’s flat, there is not a single word about ‘abuses at Ukrzaliznytsia’. It is written in black and white that the search was conducted as part of a criminal case against MP Khrystenko. How my brother is connected to this is unclear. The investigator was unable to explain this during the search either,” the lawyer said.
AntAC also released the full text of the court warrant for the search of the rented apartment where Likunov lives.
The document states that the search request was personally approved by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
AntAC’s executive director, Daria Kaleniuk, described the SSU’s actions as “petty acts of presidential revenge”.
“Zelenskyy and the SSU’s immediate goal is to discredit the entire anti-corruption system and to take revenge on specific people over suspicions against SSU officer Artem Shylo, accused of embezzling Ukrzaliznytsia funds, the investigation into the assets of SSU General Vitiuk, and investigations involving people close to the president – Chernyshov and Mindich. It is a disgrace that during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the SSU is engaged in the president’s petty vendettas instead of military tasks,” Kaleniuk concluded.
Ukrainska Pravda has requested that the SSU comment.
Background:
On the morning of 25 September, NABU reported that the SSU was conducting investigative actions against its former detectives, suggesting this may indicate increased pressure on anti-corruption bodies.The SSU in response said that the searches of Ukrzaliznytsia officials were being carried out within a criminal case concerning abuses in freight transport and were not connected to pressure on anti-corruption institutions.In April 2024, NABU detectives, under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, served notices of suspicion on members of an organised group involved in the embezzlement of UAH 94.8 million (about US$2.3 million) of Ukrzaliznytsia funds during the wartime procurement of transformers. Seven members of the group were charged. The group was reportedly led by Artem Shylo.
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