Top security official posts $1.4 million bail in major corruption case

Serhiy Duka, a top Security Service (SBU) official, has posted Hr 65 million ($1.43 million) bail in a high-profile corruption case, the High Anti-Corruption Court said on Nov. 13.

Duka is a suspect in a sweeping investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), known as Operation Carthage, into scam call centers. The probe led to the ouster of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who fled Ukraine in September, and implicated senior officials in his office.

The alleged criminal network extended far beyond call-center scams. According to Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies, the network also trafficked drugs, produced counterfeit currency, and used violence to intimidate critics and opponents.

Duka has denied the accusations of wrongdoing.

Five people have been charged in the case, including senior National Police officers and Security Service officials.

Duka, the first deputy head of the Security Service's (SBU) Department for the Protection of National Statehood, was charged with complicity in organized crime.

Investigators say Duka advised Andrii Osipov, one of the alleged leaders of the criminal group, on how to evade detection and arranged contacts with senior officials at other law enforcement agencies, including the Prosecutor General's Office.

The criminal network was run by Osipov and Russian-born Yehor Burkin, reportedly the founder of the transnational drug trafficking known as Khimprom, according to the NABU. Recordings released by the NABU suggest that Burkin maintained contact with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) even during Russia's all-out war.

Duka also spearheaded the attack on the NABU and SAPO as President Volodymyr Zelensky's team sought to strip the agencies of their independence in 2025.

The SBU detained two NABU detectives, Ruslan Mahamedsuralov and Viktor Husarov, accusing them of having ties to Russia and portraying the crackdown as an attempt to combat Moscow's alleged influence on the bureau.

Both were released in late 2025, and a court closed the case against Husarov in June.

Recordings released by the NABU document an alleged effort by the criminal group and an SBU official to falsify evidence against Mahamedrasulov in cooperation with Russia's Federal Security Service.

When Anti-Corruption Bureau detectives tried to enter the house where Duka was staying on Nov. 4 to conduct searches, SBU officers guarding the general threatened them with guns and kept them out for several hours.

According to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Duka used that time to smash several phones and data storage devices with an axe.