PGO registers five cases of possible beatings of NABU detectives; SBI investigating combined case

The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has registered five criminal cases regarding the possible use of force by SBU officers against employees of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) during searches; the case has been consolidated and transferred to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) according to jurisdiction.

"The Prosecutor General's Office has registered five criminal proceedings on the basis of a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding the possible use of force by SBU officers against NABU officers during searches on July 21, 2025, including two based on materials from NABU officers' appeals to the National Police of Ukraine," Maryana Haiovska-Kovbasiuk, head of the Information Policy and Communications Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, told Interfax-Ukraine.

She noted that the criminal proceedings were combined and the State Bureau of Investigation is conducting the investigation.

"Indeed, on July 21, the PGO initiated criminal proceedings on the fact of possible illegal actions committed against individual NABU employees. The investigation was assigned to the Main Investigation Department of the State Bureau of Investigation," the agency was told in the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation.

The Bureau emphasized that the investigation is being conducted objectively and impartially. "The investigation will provide a comprehensive legal assessment of the actions of all law enforcement officers," the State Bureau of Investigation assured.

On July 22, NABU Director Semen Kryvonos stated that three NABU employees, who were searched on July 21 and were not detained, received bodily injuries of varying severity, which doctors were unable to record.

"In fact, of the employees who were not detained, three employees who were searched had previously received bodily injuries of varying degrees of severity. And yesterday all day they could not document the beatings, because, I know, yesterday all day the corresponding work was carried out with medical institutions so as not to accept detectives, and in fact to record the degree of bodily injuries," the NABU director said at a briefing.