The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) are embroiled in an increasingly fierce conflict that includes searches, arrests, and mutual accusations.
The conflict, writes the Kyiv Independent, is seen as part of a wider struggle between the Presidential Cabinet and NABU, which claims that the authorities are trying to abolish its independence.
The SBU, which is considered loyal to the presidential cabinet, arrested NABU employees, accusing them of ties to Russia, and presented this action as a fight against alleged Russian influence in the bureau.
However, anti-corruption activists believe that this is an attempt to stop investigators who have launched investigations against people from President Volodymyr Zelensky's inner circle.
What started as a wave of raids has turned into a conflict of reprisals - now each agency is conducting investigations against the other's officers, according to the Kyiv Independent.
In interviews with the Kyiv Independent, senior officials from both institutions attempted to justify their actions, while at the same time claiming that they wanted to "find a way out of the conflict."
Both sides emphasize that an open confrontation has only one winner - Russia. However, when pressed with questions, they admitted that the Presidential Cabinet also has an interest in continuing the conflict.
Although protests and pressure from Brussels prevented a recent attempt to weaken NABU, no one believes that the Presidential Cabinet has given up on the idea.
Main case
The conflict began in July, when Zelensky signed a law placing NABU under the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor General, an official appointed by the president. The bureau's independence was later restored, following the first major protests since the start of the war, but the conflict has not ended.
The day before the law was signed, the SBU raided NABU premises and arrested Ruslan Mahamedrasulov, head of one of NABU's investigation departments, and his father Sentjabr, accusing them of "aiding the aggressor state" - Russia.
This case became a focal point of conflict between the two agencies.
Critics of the SBU claim that Mahamedrasulov was targeted because he was investigating allies of President Zelensky. SBU officials who spoke to the Kyiv Independent rejected these allegations.
Mahamedrasulov played a minor role in the corruption investigation involving Zelensky's business partner Timur Mindich, a film producer and co-owner of the production company Kvartal 95, according to a NABU source who wished to remain anonymous.
The SBU suspects Mahamedrasulov and his father of maintaining contacts with Russia and planning to mediate the sale of cannabis to the Russian republic of Dagestan.
However, the recording, which is a key piece of evidence in the case, is of very poor quality. Critics of the SBU and Mahamedrasulov's interlocutor in that conversation claim that the recording mentions Uzbekistan, not Dagestan.
Mahamedrasulov's defense, led by the Center for Action Against Corruption, claims that the trial involved numerous violations of legal procedure and even torture. A key witness claims that he was threatened by the SBU.
The Prosecutor General's Office and the SBU denied the allegations.
Opposition party member Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who supports Mahamedrasulov, said the evidence against him was falsified and pointed to numerous contradictions.
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, said that "the case is pure personal revenge against a detective who had the courage to do his job and investigate the president's friends."
"The goal is to intimidate NABU through a staged trial and persecution of Mahamedrasulov and his father," she added.
An expert from the same center, Olena Shcherban, is a member of Mahamedrasulov's defense team.
The SBU, on the other hand, claims it has a "solid case" and that it is up to the court to decide guilt.
In July, the SBU arrested another NABU investigator, Vitaly Khusarov, charging him with treason.
Retaliatory conflict
After the first raids, both institutions began to target each other.
On September 2, NABU charged the former head of SBU cybersecurity, Ilya Vityuk, with illicit enrichment and false declaration of assets.
The SBU retaliated on September 10, indicting NABU investigator Vitaly Tebekin, also for falsely declaring assets.
Then, on September 25, the SBU searched the property of Taras Likunov, a former NABU detective and brother of lawyer Olena Shcherban.
Likunov is accused of accepting a job at the state-owned railway company after investigating it, which would constitute a conflict of interest under Ukrainian law.
Covert operation
The most dramatic moment in the conflict between the SBU and NABU was the mysterious "appearance" and arrest of pro-Russian MP Fedir Khristenko, accused of treason, on September 6th.
How Khristenko returned to Ukraine remains unclear.
He lived in Dubai and was neither extradited nor deported. According to Kyiv Independent's sources in the security services, Deputy Head of the SBU Oleksandr Poklad was in Dubai shortly before his return.
These sources claim that the secret agreement on his return from the United Arab Emirates could not have been implemented without the direct participation of the Presidential Cabinet.
The Prosecutor General's Office said that Khristenko "voluntarily returned" to Ukraine and was subsequently arrested by the SBU, but it did not explain what motivated him to make that move.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko approved the SBU's July raids on NABU premises and publicly sided with the security service.
According to SBU sources, Hristenko is expected to testify in a number of cases, including those related to NABU.
The SBU claimed in July that Khristenko had been in contact with Mahamedrasulova and another NABU investigator, which they interpreted as "indicating a Russian connection." NABU denied this.
Meanwhile, allegations of Russian influence have also emerged within the SBU itself.
General Serhiy Duka, deputy head of a key department of the service, allegedly oversaw the actions against NABU, but now faces accusations himself of having family ties to Russia.
His wife's parents received Russian passports and traveled to Russia during the war, the Anti-Corruption Action Center claims.
The SBU called the investigation "biased" and added that Duka had informed his superiors about the family situation.
No happy ending
Activists and lawmakers believe that the SBU's actions are part of the government's attempt to destroy the independence of anti-corruption institutions.
"All of this has a negative impact on NABU and its ability to remain independent," Kaleniuk said.
Although behind closed doors both sides agree that the conflict is damaging both institutions, anonymous sources from both agencies blame the Presidential Cabinet for the current escalation.
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