Ukraine completes investigation into ex-president-led "criminal organisation"

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) says it has completed a pretrial investigation into a criminal case involving the alleged creation of a criminal organisation led by former President Viktor Yanukovych, according to a statement published on the agency’s website.

The case, opened in 2021, implicates nearly the entire senior leadership of Yanukovych’s presidency, including former top officials across Ukraine’s political, security, and defence institutions, Caliber.Az reports. 

“The SBI has completed the pretrial investigation in the criminal proceedings regarding the creation and activities of a criminal organisation led by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych,” the statement reads.

Investigators allege that after being elected president, Yanukovych “established and led a criminal organisation that included representatives of the state’s highest political and security leadership; its members used their official authority to maintain control over all branches of government, influence the law enforcement and judicial systems, and advance their own political and economic interests”.

According to the SBI, 17 individuals have been charged in total, including former heads of government, security services, and defence institutions. The primary charge relates to the creation and operation of a criminal organisation under Article 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Authorities say most of the accused are currently outside the country.

Those named in the case reportedly include a former prime minister, prosecutor general, interior minister and deputy, the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and senior officials within its counterterrorism and regional directorates, as well as former defence leadership.

Following the 2014 political upheaval, Yanukovych left Ukraine, after which multiple criminal cases were opened against him. In January 2019, a Kyiv court sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison for high treason.

By Sabina Mammadli