Ukraine's top anti-corruption activist faces charges in case his team calls political vendetta
Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center’s executive board, meets the press outside his fire-stricken house, Kyiv, Ukraine. (Evgen Kotenko/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Anti-corruption
A sudden legal action by the authorities against one of Ukraine's most prominent anti-corruption activists has sent shockwaves through the country's civil society.
Vitaliy Shabunin, the chair of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) NGO's executive board and current member of the Armed Forces, was charged on July 11 with evading military service and fraud — an accusation his team rejects.
As law enforcement agents raided his military posting in Kharkiv Oblast and his family home in Kyiv, the case fueled concerns over government pressure on civil society and anti-corruption efforts.
"Taking advantage of the war, Volodymyr Zelensky is taking the first but confident steps towards corrupt authoritarianism," Shabunin said on Telegram in his first public message since the charges were pressed.
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of AntAC, called the accusations raised against Shabunin "absurd."
Talking to the Kyiv Independent, Kaleniuk described the case as a "vendetta" for what "Vitaliy Shabunin and our organization are doing and will keep doing about corruption and wrongdoing of authorities."
The State Bureau of Investigation has denied any connection between the case and Shabunin's work.
"I would like to immediately note that the charges are in no way related to (Shabunin's) public activity," the bureau's communications advisor, Tetiana Sapian, said on air on national television.
What is Shabunin accused of?
The State Bureau of Investigations accused Shabunin of "systematically evading military service," among other related charges.
In its July 11 press release, the agency claimed that after beginning military service in 2022, the activist "did not appear at his post for a long time" and avoided service under the guise of "business trips" and work in civilian institutions.
The investigation has been ongoing since December 2023.
The accusations concern a criminal case involving Viktor Yushko, a serviceman and former commander of the 207th battalion of the territorial defense of Kyiv, where Shabunin served at the beginning of the full-scale war.
Yushko is facing charges that he abused his position to issue orders for fictitious business trips for military personnel in his unit, including Shabunin.
According to the bureau, Shabunin also stands accused of fraud for taking a monthly military allowance of Hr 50,000 ($1,200) while absent from his unit.
The investigators further said that Shabunin illegally used an SUV car imported into Ukraine as humanitarian aid for his personal needs without proper registration or relevant legal grounds.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
"The State Bureau of Investigation emphasizes: the law should be the same for everyone, regardless of position, public status, or public activity," the bureau said in a statement.
"Patriotic slogans cannot be a cover for abuses, and true service to the state is manifested not in loud statements, but in compliance with the law."
How does AntAC respond?
Speaking to the Kyiv Independent on July 12, Kaleniuk dismissed the charges, highlighting several discrepancies.
AntAC's director said the charges of evading military service stem from Shabunin's 2022 secondment to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, Ukraine's anti-corruption body.
During this period, she noted, he was actively involved in developing anti-corruption measures related to defense procurement.
On its Telegram channel, AntAC stressed that Shabunin's temporary assignment, which took place between September 2022 and February 2023, was legitimate and given to him as an order that he could not legally ignore.
His team further said that Shabunin participated in the defense of Kyiv in 2022 and subsequently served in the Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts.
AntAC also rejected claims that Shabunin illegally received combat payments, explaining that he was simply earning a regular salary as a soldier.
While the investigators accuse Shabunin of "fraudulently" incurring the state loss of Hr 224,250 (around $5,370), AntAC said the amount is actually his official military salary, with taxes and other fees included.
It is also a common and fully legitimate practice that Ukrainian soldiers receive older cars donated by volunteers, the organization said.
"The interesting fact is that this car was not mentioned in the notice, but was mentioned in public communication of the State Bureau of Investigations," Kaleniuk pointed out.
The AntAC director also highlighted violations during the July 11 raids. The searches at Shabunin's military posting took place without the presence of an attorney and without a court order, she said, adding that the activist's phone was seized to gain access to his personal data.
A day before the raid, Shabunin said he was reassigned from his position in Kharkiv to a front-line brigade — a move that, according to Kaleniuk, made it easier to carry out the search outside of proper procedures.
According to Shabunin, the searches lasted 15 hours from 2 p.m. on July 11 until 5 a.m. on July 12.
A separate raid was carried out at Shabunin's home in Kyiv in the presence of his wife, two children, and a grandfather, once again without the presence of a lawyer, Kaleniuk said.
The officers "have taken away Vitaliy's wife's phone and even the phone and tablets of Vitaliy's young children," said Kaleniuk, who was present at the search.
AntAC's director said Shabunin managed to contact the team only on the morning of July 12. He has not been detained but awaits a hearing at the Pechersk court in Kyiv, which will decide on a preventive measure.
'Vendetta' for exposing government wrongdoings
Shabunin has said he has repeatedly faced pressure from the authorities as a retribution for his work, attributing it to the President's Office and its controversial deputy head, Oleh Tatarov.
Tatarov, a powerful but divisive figure in Ukrainian politics, was charged with bribery before joining the presidential administration, but law enforcement agencies obstructed the corruption case against him and eventually dropped it.
Talking to the Kyiv Independent, Kaleniuk also pointed to a smear campaign by President's Office-linked Telegram channels aimed at Shabunin.
"(The President's Office), through the Tatarov-controlled State Bureau of Investigation and anonymous Telegram channels, seeks to turn Vitaliy Shabunin into a 'tax evader' and 'swindler,'" AntAC said in a column published in the Ukrainian media.
Kaleniuk also believes that it is no coincidence that the charges came shortly after Ruslan Kravchenko — described as a Zelensky loyalist — was appointed as the new Prosecutor General. AntAC has criticized his appointment, as Kravchenko failed to meet ethics and integrity standards during earlier contests for law enforcement jobs.
The Kyiv Independent has reached out to Shabunin, the President's Office, and the State Bureau of Investigation for comment.
In another recent case seen as a growing executive overreach and interference, the government blocked the appointment of a new head of the Bureau of Economic Security, a controversial agency with ties to Tatarov.
The developments have fueled mounting concerns that Ukraine's anti-graft reforms are being quietly rolled back under the cover of wartime.
In his July 12 post, Shabunin decried several controversial steps taken by Zelensky, the President's Office, and the Servant of the People's party, including a new bill on corruption in defense procurement.
The bill seeks to exempt from criminal liability companies implementing defense contracts with the government and enterprises included in a secret list compiled by the Defense Ministry.
Anti-corruption activists say the bill would jeopardize the rule of law, result in increased corruption, and potentially undermine Ukraine's defense capabilities. They also accuse the authorities of attempting to stifle critics of the bill.
