Ukraine's state security service on Monday detained a senior official from the country's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and conducted widespread searches at the agency's offices, alleging he was aiding Russia and had ties to its special services.[
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), along with the Prosecutor General's Office, announced it had detained Ruslan Magamedrasulov, a head of one of NABU's interregional detective units. He is suspected of "aiding the aggressor state," a charge related to facilitating his father's business in Russia. The SBU stated that Magamedrasulov, who was responsible for coordinating NABU's work in the frontline regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, acted as a middleman for his father's business selling industrial hemp in Russia's Dagestan region.
The SBU also accused the official of violating the law by concealing his father's Russian citizenship when applying for state security clearance. Investigators added that his mother lives in Kyiv but receives a pension from the Russian-occupied "Donetsk People's Republic" and shares pro-Kremlin content on social media.
The searches, which NABU claimed were conducted without court orders, are part of a wider investigation into Russian influence within the anti-corruption body. The SBU is also probing Magamedrasulov's alleged contacts with Fedor Khristenko, a fugitive former lawmaker from a banned pro-Russian party. The SBU claims Khristenko is linked to Russian special services and has "significant influence" on NABU's activities.
According to the SBU, Magamedrasulov was supposed to be based in Dnipro to oversee work in frontline areas but spent most of his time in Kyiv and recently returned from a vacation in Tenerife. The large-scale operation involved at least 70 searches concerning 15 NABU employees, according to sources cited by Ukrainian media. The NABU has stated it is clarifying the circumstances surrounding the raids.