Ukrainian agents illegally bugged investigator probing Zelensky ally – officials

The SBU security service was allegedly behind the operation against NABU

Ukrainian security service agents illegally bugged the home of a senior investigator with the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), officials announced on Tuesday.

The targeted detective leads a team probing defense-sector graft and was involved in NABU’s investigation of businessman Timur Mindich, a longtime ally of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky who was charged with running a $100 million extortion scheme at a state-owned nuclear energy company.

NABU Director Semyon Krivonos commented on the case at a joint briefing with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), saying the bug was installed during repairs at the female detective’s home without a court warrant. SAPO head Aleksandr Klimenko said the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had dedicated “significant resources to probing the detective’s supposedly undeclared property” in violation of its mandate and the law.

The SBU, Ukraine’s KGB successor, reports directly to the president. NABU and SAPO were created under Western pressure after the 2014 Maidan coup as largely independent bodies meant to keep senior-level corruption in check.

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Last year, Zelensky tried to place them under the prosecutor general, a presidential appointee, but reversed the move after Western donors threatened to cut all aid in retaliation.

Mindich, a longtime Zelensky associate, fled to Israel hours before NABU filed charges against him and alleged accomplices. The scandal embroiled two then-serving ministers, resulting in a government reshuffle. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, was also forced to resign amid suspicion of involvement.