The law clearly defines the list of criminal offences that fall under the SSU’s investigative powers.

These are crimes that can cause serious damage to state security – espionage, high treason, collaborationism, encroachment on Ukraine’s constitutional order and territorial integrity, war crimes, disclosure of state secrets, terrorist crimes, etc.

Now, amid russia’s full-scale invasion, the SSU is investigating dozens of thousands of criminal proceedings related to russia’s military aggression against our country, which places great responsibility on SSU investigators.

Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, Hostomel, Izium, Kherson, Balakliya... Every settlement liberated from the invaders revealed to the world numerous inhuman crimes committed by the occupiers. Already in the first year of the full-scale war, the SSU was investigating over 20,000 criminal proceedings on violations of laws and customs of war by the russian occupiers.

This array of crimes is being documented not only for Ukrainian, but also for international justice.

SSU investigators have worked as part of international joint investigation teams. One example is the investigation into the shooting down of a passenger plane on flight MH17 over Donetsk region, Ukraine. In November 2022, the District Court of the Hague sentenced three perpetrators to life imprisonment. This verdict was achieved due to long and painstaking work of dozens of investigators and prosecutors.

Currently, SSU investigators are working tirelessly to hold accountable not only the direct perpetrators of the crimes, but also the military and political leadership of the aggressor state.