The statement does not name the accused, but given the circumstances of the case, we are talking about People’s Deputy Alexander Dubinsky, former People’s Deputy Andrei Derkach, who fled to the Russian Federation and became a senator there, as well as former prosecutor Konstantin Kulik (also hiding abroad). Another person involved, as previously reported by the SBU, is Derkach’s former assistant Igor Kolesnikov (convicted and serving time for treason).
Investigators concluded that the defendants, under the direction of the Russian special services, were engaged in discrediting Ukraine’s image in the international arena.
“In particular, they organized several media events where they spread fake news about the Ukrainian authorities and their Western partners. The investigation established that this was a well-planned special operation of the Russian special services, the aim of which was to discredit relations between Ukraine and the United States and slow down the processes of Ukraine’s integration into the EU and NATO. “The former prosecutor also participated in such events. He publicly “proved” their falsifications from the point of view of the law. It was established that they acted on clear instructions from the Russian special services,” the State Bureau noted.
According to law enforcement officials, the people’s deputies joined a criminal organization created by the deputy head of the Russian GRU, Vladimir Alekseev, and his deputy, Alexey Savin.
“The organization had a clear hierarchical structure and a detailed distribution of responsibilities. The project was financed by the Russian special services, the money was transferred to Ukraine through the assistant of the former people’s deputy. According to preliminary estimates, the Russian special services spent at least 10 million dollars on this organization,” the authors of the statement added.
People’s deputies have repeatedly traveled to the aggressor country, Russia, to meet with their supervisors, the SBI notes. In particular, the investigation has confirmed that Dubinsky traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg and in October 2019, before the scandalous press conference, he allegedly met with “curators” in the Russian Federation.
The Prosecutor General’s Office recalled that in November 2019, people’s deputies held a press conference at which they spoke about alleged corruption of US officials, and in June 2020, Kulik and Derkach held a press conference “at which they” publicly justified “falsifications in favor of the Kremlin, including on the alleged interference of Ukrainian officials in the presidential elections in the United States.”
