The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Friday, Aug. 22, unveiled more evidence alleging a top official from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) of harboring Russian ties.
The government used the case as a basis to strip anti-corruption agencies of their independence in July, triggering nationwide protests, with the bill subsequently reversed amid public outcry.
The SBU, in its Friday press release, unveiled more evidence accusing the father of one of the top NABU officials of conducting business with Russia and maintaining contact with a pro-Kremlin lawmaker accused of treason.
The NABU official was previously identified as Ruslan Mahamedrasulov, who was accused of trading hemp grown in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region with a company in Russia’s Republic of Dagestan.
The SBU said evidence shows that both Mahamedrasulov and his father discussed the trade with the Dagestani company, with Mahamedrasulov named as the organizer of the business.
“The conclusions of the state forensic semantic and textual examination confirm that the interlocutors in the recording are talking specifically about trade with the Russian Republic of Dagestan,” the SBU alleges.
In particular, Mahamedrasulov was reportedly named by the Russian company in a conversation surrounding a deal.
“In particular, in this communication, a representative of the Russian company reports that he has received a commercial offer and asks to send the relevant quality certificates for the products as soon as possible,” the press release states, explaining the nature of the conversation.
“He explains that the documents are urgently needed, since the Russian state program for reimbursement of costs for growing industrial hemp is coming to an end,” it adds.
“He also names the name of the person who sent him the commercial offer – it coincides with the name of a high-ranking NABU official.”
The SBU also said Mahamedrasulov’s father traveled to Russia in 2023 following Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and accused him of harboring ties with Fedir Khrystenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker wanted for Russian collaboration.
The SBU said Khrystenko requested Mahamedrasulov’s contact during a conversation with his father.
“In particular, Khrystenko wrote that he could not reach his son by phone (for the sake of secrecy, he indicated only the first letter of his name) and asked to help establish contact,” the press release says.
The SBU went on to accuse Mahamedrasulov’s father of communicating with Russian officials in occupied regions, whose conversations included weapon registrations in the occupied Donetsk region.
“In addition, the SBU documented facts confirming that the father of the NABU official maintained contacts with representatives of the occupation administrations in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine,” it wrote.
“In particular, he discussed with a Russian occupation official in Horlivka the issue of renewing the registration of his weapons under the laws of the so-called ‘DPR,’” the SBU added, referring to the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), a Russian proxy state in eastern Ukraine.
At the end of the press release, the SBU reiterated that the investigation has no bearing on NABU’s independence, as it “concerns only an individual employee of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the facts of his cooperation with the aggressor country.”
“We emphasize that this criminal proceeding concerns only an individual employee of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the facts of his cooperation with the aggressor country and in no way relates to the effective work of NABU as a state institution of Ukraine as a whole,” says the press release.
“As before, the SBU advocates constructive cooperation to strengthen institutional capabilities, cleanse it of pro-Russian influence, and strengthen the independence of our state,” it adds.
In early August, the heads of NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said they had faced pressure, with their removal looming after the anti-corruption rollback and its reversal.
The heads of NABU and SAPO urged the SBU to release the evidence promptly, but the SBU said it remains withheld due to ongoing investigative procedures.