Ukraine's top anti-graft prosecutor decries pressure amid reports of Security Service probe targeting him
Oleksandr Klymenko, Ukraine's chief anti-corruption prosecutor, denounced "the unprecedented pressure on anti-corruption institutions" on Oct. 6 amid reports that he is being investigated by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU).
Klymenko, head of Ukraine's Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), made the statement in a comment for the Kyiv Independent.
Ukrainian media outlet Babel reported on Oct. 6, citing its sources, that Klymenko is being investigated by the SBU in relation to a case brought against Fedir Khrystenko. Klymenko has not been officially charged yet.
Khrystenko is a Ukrainian lawmaker charged with treason for allegedly cooperating with Russian intelligence. He had been living in Dubai but was brought back to Ukraine in September.
The SBU claimed in July that Khrystenko had been in contact with National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) detectives and was influencing the bureau.
Two sources told Babel that the fugitive parliamentarian is testifying against Klymenko in a case related to three bureau employees.
The NABU employees are being investigated in a potential misconduct case after gaining employment at Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state railway company, following their handling of cases at the railway company.
When contacted by the Kyiv Independent, Klymenko lambasted purported outside influence, accusing the SBU of overstepping its role.
"Such reports, as well as a number of clearly illegal actions against NABU employees that have already taken place, are nothing other than a continuation of pressure on anti-corruption agencies," Klymenko told the Kyiv Independent when reached for comment on the possible investigation.
Klymenko added that the reported investigation "no longer comes as a surprise" amid tension between the anti-corruption agencies and the President's Office.
"These actions and pressure are linked to a number of criminal proceedings that the NABU and SAPO are currently actively investigating," Klymenko added.
"Regardless of how events unfold, the NABU and SAPO are taking all necessary measures to prevent interference in ongoing investigations."
The SBU told the Kyiv Independent that it would not comment on "unconfirmed information from anonymous sources."
The agency added that the pre-trial investigation into former parliamentarian Khrystenko is ongoing but that additional details were not being disclosed to maintain the "confidentiality of the investigation."
The reports follow other developments in the conflict between the SAPO and NABU on the one hand and the SBU and the President's Office on the other.
The confrontation started in July, when the Security Service and other law enforcement agencies conducted at least 70 searches at NABU premises and charged a NABU employee with treason.
The next day, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill that de facto eliminated the bureau's independence. The bureau's independence was subsequently restored following large-scale street protests.
These events followed multiple instances in which top government officials, including a former deputy head of the President's Office, were targeted in anti-corruption investigations by the agencies.
Anti-corruption activists view the SBU's actions as an attempt to hinder the detectives who have previously investigated Zelensky's inner circle from performing their duties.
The SBU, which is seen as loyal to the President's Office, has presented the crackdown as a push to weed out alleged Russian influence.
Last month, NABU charged a senior SBU official — ex-cybersecurity chief Illia Vitiuk — with illicit enrichment. The Security Service called it "a revenge."
The NABU and SAPO are Ukraine's two leading anti-corruption agencies, established as part of the reforms following the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution.
