Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly condemned Ukraine’s own security service, the SBU. A widening SBU corruption scandal has exposed senior officers who allegedly protected a violent criminal gang.
Investigators say the gang ran scam call centres, trafficked drugs and forged foreign currency. They also accuse it of kidnappings and torture-for-hire.
The case lands at a sensitive moment. Ukraine must curb graft to join the European Union and keep foreign aid flowing. It also follows a year of scandals that reached Zelensky’s inner circle.
What happened?
On 4 November, detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) searched the premises of several SBU officials. The High Anti-Corruption Court had approved the raids. NABU said a senior SBU official obstructed the searches and threatened to use a firearm.
Ukrainian media named him as Major General Serhii Duka, a senior figure in the SBU’s statehood protection department. NABU believes Duka, who used the codename “Akim”, shielded the gang from SBU investigations.
Anti-corruption agencies charged five suspects on 5 November, including senior SBU and police officials. Media reports named the alleged leaders as Andrii Osipov and Yehor Burkin. Burkin reportedly founded Khimprom, a transnational drug ring.
Investigators say the gang paid officials $7,000 in cryptocurrency from just one call centre. NABU recordings also capture suspects discussing attacks on investigative journalist Denys Bihus.
A court remanded Volodymyr Tsenov, a deputy head of police strategic investigations, in custody for two months. It set his bail at 15 million hryvnias, about $330,000. On 6 November, a court ordered the arrest of a former SBU general, pending bail.
The same probe, Operation Carthage, toppled Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko in September. Kravchenko denies wrongdoing.
What did Zelensky say?
Zelensky used his evening address on 7 November to condemn the alleged crimes. He called them “frankly shameful, absolutely unacceptable”.
Acting SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad had already fired two senior officials over the case. Zelensky promised that “there will be other personnel decisions”. He also said he expects a full investigation that produces results.
He has proposed a law that would force every SBU employee to declare their assets publicly. Ukraine already uses asset declarations as a powerful tool to monitor corruption.
Has the SBU faced corruption claims before?
Yes, repeatedly. The SBU wields sweeping law enforcement and military powers. Its military wing strikes deep inside Russia, but other units face allegations of corruption and intimidation.
In July 2025, the SBU and prosecutors carried out more than 70 searches targeting NABU detectives. The SBU cited Russian infiltration as its reason. A day later, parliament passed a law that stripped NABU and its sister prosecutor’s office of their independence.
Zelensky signed it that evening. Ukrainians poured onto the streets in the first such protests since the full-scale war began. Zelensky backed down, and parliament restored the agencies’ independence on 31 July.
That same week, NABU accused a senior SBU official of demanding a $300,000 bribe to destroy evidence. In February 2026, the SBU’s internal security unit detained the head of its Zhytomyr regional office. Investigators suspected him and an air force logistics chief of taking a $320,000 bribe. Zelensky fired him in March.
How widespread is corruption in Ukraine?
Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index gave Ukraine 36 points out of 100. That score placed it 104th among 182 countries. The watchdog called 2025 a “challenging year” full of procurement and defence-sector scandals.
Ukrainians feel the problem sharply. A September poll by KIIS, a Kyiv-based pollster, found 72% think corruption has grown since the war started. In April, 54% of respondents named corruption a bigger threat than the war, while 39% chose the war.
Scam call centres alone form a huge illicit industry. Experts estimate 1,000 to 1,500 such offices operate in Ukraine, employing about 60,000 people.
How deep does corruption reach into Zelensky’s inner circle?
Deep enough to reach his closest associates. In November 2025, NABU exposed an alleged $100m kickback scheme at Energoatom, the state nuclear power company. Investigators say the group demanded kickbacks worth 10–15% of each contract’s value from contractors.
NABU named Timur Mindich, Zelensky’s former business partner, as the alleged ringleader. Mindich co-founded Kvartal 95, the production company Zelensky started before entering politics. He left Ukraine before the raids and denies wrongdoing.
The scandal cost Zelensky two ministers and his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. Yermak resigned after NABU searched his home. In May 2026, NABU charged Yermak with laundering about $10.5m through a luxury housing project near Kyiv.
Prosecutors have charged at least nine suspects in the Energoatom case, including a former deputy prime minister. Investigators have said Zelensky is not under suspicion. Still, 72% of Ukrainians hold him personally responsible for corruption among his associates. KIIS cautions that this does not mean voters accuse him of taking part.
What happens next?
The courts will now weigh the charges against the accused officers. Parliament must also vote on Zelensky’s asset-declaration bill for SBU staff.
The case tests whether Zelensky will back independent investigators when they target his own security apparatus. KIIS chief Anton Hrushetskyi warns that repeated scandals could damage trust in Zelensky irreversibly.
