The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) together with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) notified about the suspicion of a representative of the senior officers of the SBU in illegal enrichment and declaration of unreliable data (Article 368-5 and Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The name of the official has not been disclosed, but Censor.NET reports that it is the former head of the SBU cyber security department Ilya Vityuk.
According to the investigation, in December 2023, he purchased an apartment in Pechersk worth UAH 21.6 million, registering it for a member of his family. At the same time, the amount of UAH 12.8 million is specified in the contract. To explain the origin of the funds, a relative of the official indicated income from business activities: since February 2022, he allegedly provided legal and consulting services.
Investigators found out that the money really went to the accounts of the FOP, but from a person who is suspected of misappropriating the funds of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” as part of an organized criminal group, as well as from companies associated with it. The evidence shows that the services were not actually provided, and the companies themselves show signs of being fictitious. In addition, the legality of the origin of another 8.8 million UAH spent on the purchase of an apartment remained unconfirmed.
Journalists of the project “ Investigations. Info” found out that in December 2023, the wife of the then head of the cyber security department of the Security Service of Ukraine Ilya Vityuka Yuliya bought a luxury apartment in Pechersk costing more than UAH 21 million.
With Vityuk’s official salary, which was 1.8 million hryvnias per year, such an acquisition would have been impossible. Instead, his wife declared UAH 9.4 million in income in 2022 and UAH 13.4 million in 2023 as a sole proprietorship, but refused to comment on the nature of her activities.
Two days after the release of the investigation, journalists stated that the SBU allegedly used TCC employees to serve a subpoena to the author of the material, Yevhen Shulgat. According to them, orders in this regard could have come from Vityuk’s subordinates in the SBU.
Later, the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, after a meeting with the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Malyuk, said that he had promised to pay attention to the incident with a subpoena to the journalist.
After the scandal, Malyuk removed Vytyuk from the duties of the head of the Department of Counterintelligence Protection of the State’s Interests in the Field of Information Security. The press center of the SBU noted that during the inspection he will serve in a unit of the same department, which, together with TsSO “А” performs combat tasks at the front. On May 1, 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed a decree on the dismissal of Ilya Vityuk from the post of head of the Department.
