News Feed

Interpol places fugitive ex-SBU official on wanted list at Kyiv's request

2 min read
Interpol places fugitive ex-SBU official on wanted list at Kyiv's request
Ex-SBU general Andrii Naumov in Serbian detention. Photo published on Sept. 29, 2023. (Dejan Stankovic / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Interpol put Andrii Naumov, a former head of the internal security department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), on the international wanted list at Ukraine's request, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) said on Aug. 28.

Naumov fled Ukraine in 2022 and was subsequently detained in Serbia on suspicions of money laundering.

The ex-official was released from custody last December, but the trial proceedings against him in Serbia continue. Naumov is wanted in Ukraine, but Serbian authorities have rejected a request for his extradition.

Naumov was detained on the border between Serbia and North Macedonia on June 7, 2022, reportedly carrying undeclared cash amounting to around 600,000 euros ($652,000), $120,000, and two emeralds.

The aforementioned assets are listed in the bureau's indictment from May 3, in addition to two cars, a Toyota Land Cruiser and a BMW X6.

The suspect acquired these assets while in high-level positions at the SBU. He is also suspected of illicitly acquiring over 3.2 million (over $80,000) during his tenure as the head of a state-owned company between 2019 and 2021.

News Feed

"Along with him, Ukraine has brought back a part of itself: its memory, its Ukrainian experience, and our national history — the history of all those who, at different times, lived and fought for Ukraine, for our independence, and for our sovereign state," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"At a time when Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, systematically destroying our cities, cultural heritage and national identity, granting one of the world’s most prestigious cultural platforms to a project connected to the Russian state and its networks of influence sends an extremely troubling signal," the Foreign Ministry said.

Show More