Vitaly Shabunin commented on the suspicion declared against him and the searches conducted by SBI investigators
Vitaliy Shabunin, co-founder of the Anti-Corruption Center, reacted to the suspicion announced to him and the searches conducted by investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation on July 11. He made a corresponding statement published in your Telegram channel.
Shabunin stated that the criminal proceedings against him and other activists are part of political persecution and are connected with the gradual collapse of the anti-corruption system in the country. In his opinion, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is using the state of war as a cover for the transition to an authoritarian model of power.
“Using the war, Volodymyr Zelenskyi is taking the first but confident steps towards corrupt authoritarianism.” Shabunin wrote.
As examples of such steps, he mentioned the draft law on amnesty for corruption crimes in defense procurement and blocking the appointment of the winner of the competition to the position of director of the Bureau of Economic Security.
In this context, Shabunin called the criminal case against him “certainly smaller, but a step on the way to corrupt authoritarianism”, the purpose of which is to intimidate critics. According to him, such actions are aimed at “catching up, intimidating and showing that you can do anything and with anyone.”
He reported that the search of his apartment lasted more than 15 hours — from 2 p.m. on July 11 to 5 a.m. the next day. According to Shabunin, the investigators worked without a court decision, and the suspect was handed over during the search itself. According to him, it concerns alleged fraud with military payments in the amount of 225 thousand hryvnias for six months, of which 40 thousand were taxes and fees.
The activist also claims that his phone was tampered with during the search. He stated that at the beginning of the search, an SBU employee appeared in the room with a phone in his hands, and a few hours later the device was “accidentally” found allegedly on the doorstep – and brought back to the room already unlocked. According to him, the entire process was recorded by the investigators’ cameras.
Shabunin thanked the family for their patience, recalling that his wife and children returned to Ukraine from the USA only in the spring of 2023. He also thanked the team of the Anti-Corruption Center for their restraint and professionalism, adding:
“We may have different views, but we feel the stench of corrupt authoritarianism equally well.”
It will be recalled that on July 11, the SBI informed about the suspicion of a public figure, without naming him, but the publications of the Anti-Corruption Center and Shabunin himself confirmed that it was about him.
The investigators stated that Shabunin, being mobilized, did not show up for duty for a long time, instead he received a monthly salary of over 50,000 hryvnias as a military serviceman. He is also accused of unjustifiably using a car imported as humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces.
In response, the anti-corruption center published a position according to which Shabunin acted within the limits of valid orders, served in Donetsk region and Kharkiv region, and did not violate the rules for the use of property. The organization called the searches in the military unit and the activist’s apartment illegal.
Lawyer Olena Shcherban believes that the real purpose of the searches was to seize Shabunin’s phone in order to identify his contacts in the Armed Forces and government structures.
This is not the first criminal proceeding against the anti-corruption official: in March 2024, the FBI already opened a case against him on suspicion of forging documents.
