Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said on December 27 that they had completed an undercover operation that uncovered an organized criminal group involving sitting members of parliament.
According to investigators, those implicated systematically exploited their voting powers on draft legislation in the Verkhovna Rada to “extract illicit benefits.” The anti-corruption agencies declined to disclose details of the scheme or the names of suspects, saying the information would be made public at a later stage.
On Saturday, December 27, NABU detectives launched investigative actions in the premises of parliamentary committees. The bureau said officers from the State Guard Department had attempted to obstruct the searches. The State Guard, for its part, explained that it was checking individuals whom investigators had brought into the government quarter as witnesses, after which all were allowed to proceed.
As lawmakers Oleksiy Honcharenko and Yuliya Syrko reported, the investigative actions took place in the transport committee. Investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach said searches were also carried out at the Parkovy business center, which houses the headquarters of the Servant of the People party. It was not specified whether investigators entered the party’s offices themselves. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak stressed that the building is large and added: “They are not there (in the party office, that is).”
Lawmaker Rostyslav Pavlenko said NABU was conducting searches of Servant of the People representatives Yuriy Koryavchenkov and Yuriy Kysel. Kysel is a deputy head of the parliamentary faction and chairs the Verkhovna Rada’s transport committee; he is also described as a close friend of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Koryavchenkov previously served as administrative director of Kvartal 95 Studio. “The case concerns illegal enrichment—receiving illicit cash payments in envelopes,” Pavlenko wrote on Facebook. NABU, however, dismissed media reports about searches of Koryavchenkov as inaccurate and has so far declined to comment on any potential claims against Kysel.
In early December, Zerkalo Nedeli reported, citing sources, that NABU detectives had secretly wiretapped Kysel for more than two years as part of an investigation into “corruption at the highest levels of power.” The article also mentioned Serhiy Shefir, a former first presidential aide, who, according to the outlet, maintained regular contact with Kysel.
Following reports of the searches, Zerkalo Nedeli wrote that notices of suspicion in a case involving the bribery of lawmakers had been served on Servant of the People MPs—Yuriy Kysel, Yevhen Pivovarov, and Ihor Nehulevskyi. They are accused under Article 368 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code—accepting an offer, promise, or receipt of illicit benefits by a public official. A source at Ukrainska Pravda says that Olha Savchenko, another MP from the faction, is also among the suspects. According to the outlet and lawmaker Zhelezniak, the circle of those implicated could widen.
According to Zerkalo Nedeli, investigators questioned Taras Melnychuk, secretary of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction. The outlet also claimed that Koryavchenkov left Ukraine after suspicions were served on his colleagues, although he is not formally listed among the suspects. Sources cited by Ukrainska Pravda disputed that account.
This is the second high-profile anti-corruption investigation targeting the upper echelons of power in recent months. In November, NABU conducted a search of Timur Mindich—a co-owner of Kvartal 95 Studio and an associate of Zelensky. Mindich left the country shortly before the investigative actions and was subsequently placed on a wanted list.
At the same time, NABU announced that it had uncovered a large-scale embezzlement scheme at Energoatom, the operator of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. Against this backdrop, Svitlana Hrynchuk and German Galushchenko, who at different times headed the Ministry of Energy, stepped down from their posts. In addition, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak resigned, along with all of his aides and advisers.