Two high-ranking officials from regional SSU departments detained on bribery charges
The Department of Internal Security of the Security Service of Ukraine has detained an intermediary and the deputy head of the SSU Main Directorate in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, as well as the deputy head of the SSU Directorate in the Rivne region, who were attempting to set up an illegal scheme in the Rivne region.
According to Ukrinform, the SSU reported this.
The organizers of the criminal scheme, using the intermediary as their trusted representative, demanded $620,000 from the head of a monopoly company in the amber business. In exchange for this sum, the suspects promised the businessman that they would close a criminal case that had previously been initiated against his company.
The operation was carried out as part of the Security Service’s systematic efforts to clean up the agency.
“The Service’s self-cleansing is our priority. We continue to root out any manifestations of corruption and regularly hold the participants in these ‘schemes’ accountable. Today’s arrest only confirms this. Corruption is unacceptable, and during wartime, it amounts to treason. And everyone involved in it will get what they deserve,” said Acting Head of the SSU Yevhen Khmara.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, on March 16, 2026, as part of criminal proceedings, the deputy head of the SSU Main Directorate in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, the deputy head of the SSU Directorate in the Rivne region, and a civilian intermediary were detained in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
According to the investigation, they demanded over $600,000 from a businessman in exchange for influencing the course of the pre-trial investigation, specifically for reclassifying a previously registered criminal offense, refraining from bringing criminal charges against the guilty parties, and instead charging straw men, as well as for not creating artificial obstacles during amber mining in the region.
The aforementioned officials and the intermediary were detained while receiving $250,000 in an illegal benefit for falsifying criminal proceedings and $22,100 for facilitating amber extraction.
During searches of the suspects’ premises, smartphones containing evidence of illegal activity were seized.
The investigation is ongoing to bring all those responsible to justice. The suspects face up to 10 years in prison, with property confiscation.
Urgent searches are being conducted at the SSU Main Directorate in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, the SSU Regional Directorate in the Rivne region, and at the suspects’ residences.
Investigative actions are ongoing. The issue of notifying the detainees of their suspicion under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of a proposal, promise, or receipt of an unlawful benefit by a public official) and the selection of preventive measures is being decided.
As reported by Ukrinform, the SSU’s military counterintelligence detained a Russian agent who was preparing a targeted missile and bomb strike on the location of the commander of the Third Army Corps of the Defense Forces in the combat zone.
First photo: Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine