Ukrainian Raids Spark Concern Over Kyiv’s Anti-Graft Efforts

(Bloomberg) -- Sweeping raids at Ukraine’s independent, anti-corruption agency sparked concern among Kyiv’s allies over the government’s dedication to longstanding efforts to strengthen the rule of law.

An unnamed employee of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, known as NABU, was detained in Kyiv under suspicion of spying for Russia, the Prosecutor General’s Office said Monday in a statement. He is accused of sending data on the identities of Ukrainian law enforcement officers to Russia’s intelligence services, it said.

The head of a local office of the NABU in the eastern city of Dnipro was also detained as part of the sweep, according to law enforcement. At least 15 of NABU’s detectives were also targeted in searches, some of which were allegedly linked to road traffic accidents and unrelated to Russia, according to the bureau. 

The searches were carried out without court orders, it said.

The ambassadors from the Group of Seven nations have “serious concerns” about developments at NABU and intend to discuss them with Ukraine’s government leaders, according to a statement on the G-7’s X account on Monday.   

The wave of detentions is likely to raise questions over Ukraine’s commitment to root out corruption at the time when President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is looking to convince Western allies to maintain their military support three-and-half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.

The recent, coordinated actions by law enforcement “point to an attempt by the authorities to undermine the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions,” Transparency International Ukraine said in a statement on its website. “These actions appear aimed at forcibly extracting information and influencing investigations into top-level officials.”

The group said the alleged offenses attributed to the detectives are “so broad and inconsistent that they indicate an ulterior motive behind the operation” and called on Zelenskiy to publicly guarantee the independence of anti-corruption institutions.

Ukraine’s Western backers have praised NABU’s work. The bureau was set up in response to demands from Ukraine’s foreign donors and civil society a decade ago to investigate corruption among top officials, but has faced political attempts to weaken its position. 

An official at one Western embassy said they were closely watching developments around the NABU probe.

In June, NABU named former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov a suspect in a corruption probe, making him the highest-level official in Zelenskiy’s government to be subject to a graft investigation. Chernyshov denied any wrongdoing.

“We emphasize that the risk of agents of influence from the aggressor state exists for any government body,” NABU said in a statement. “However, it cannot justify halting the work of the entire institution.”

Ukraine has faced a record numbers of drones and missiles from Russia in recent weeks. A barrage of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles — including five hypersonic Kinzhal missiles — were launched at Ukraine overnight, according to Kyiv’s Air Force. 

Russia’s latest bombardments coincide with an about-face in the US administration. President Donald Trump, who had for months belittled Ukraine’s wartime leader, turned his ire on Vladimir Putin after the Russian leader’s refusal to entertain a ceasefire. Trump recently pledged to send fresh weapons to Kyiv that will be paid for by Ukraine’s NATO allies in Europe.

This month, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation accused Vitaliy Shabunin, the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a civil society organization, of evading military service, raising concerns of possible political revenge.

Separately, Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office or SAPO said on Monday that the state security service, known as SBU, arrived at their premises to inspect compliance with state secrecy legislation. The visit was carried out without an official notice as required by law, the anti-graft prosecutors said. 

As a result of the inspection, the SBU got access to information about all the anti-graft agencies’ operational measures, raising risks that information about ongoing investigations could be leaked, prosecutors said. 

In a statement on Telegram, the SBU denied that it had full access to prosecutors’ data and stressed that its “comprehensive inspection” was in line with state laws.

(Updates with G-7 statement in the fifth paragraph)

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