The Security Service and the Prosecutor General’s Office have dismantled two criminal schemes within the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine. As a result, two ESBU officials have been detained for demanding bribes in exchange for ‘facilitating’ business activities and helping to evade criminal liability.

One of the suspects, an analyst who had only started working at the ESBU in February 2026, was arrested while accepting an illegal payment from a Kyiv-based entrepreneur.

For the money, the official ‘helped’ the businessman obtain a licence to store fuel at the company’s warehouses.

Another suspect, a senior detective with the ESBU Territorial Office in the Kyiv region, demanded a bribe from a person under investigation in exchange for dropping the charges.

The SSU caught both officials ‘red-handed’.

The detainees are currently scheduled to be notified of their status as suspects under two Articles of the CCU:

• 368.3 (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an unlawful benefit by a public official);
• 369-2.3 (abuse of influence).

The investigation is ongoing. The perpetrators face up to 10 years in prison and the confiscation of their property.

The operations were carried out jointly with the State Bureau of Investigations, under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.