The Security Service of Ukraine has completed its pre-trial investigation and referred an indictment to court against russian minister of sport Mikhail Degtyarev, involved in financing armed formations of the aggressor state.

According to the investigation, at the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Degtyarev was serving as governor of Khabarovsk krai and sponsored the formation of a local battalion to participate in combat operations in the Donetsk region.

The investigation documented that the unit took part in assaults on the positions of Ukraine’s Defence Forces in the Bakhmut area.

The investigation also established that Degtyarev financed the procurement of food supplies, tactical ammunition, specialised clothing and other military equipment for members of the russian armed formation.

In March 2014, while serving as a member of the russian state duma representing the pro-kremlin LDPR party and as an aide to its former leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Degtyarev was involved in financing the russian-backed terrorist organisations known as the ‘LPR’ and ‘DPR’. He also helped establish a ‘DPR’ representative office in Moscow.

Since becoming russia’s minister of sport in 2024, Degtyarev has repeatedly visited temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, where he carried out propaganda activities in support of the kremlin regime. He is also subject to European Union sanctions over his public propaganda and justification of russia’s war against Ukraine.

SSU investigators have notified Degtyarev in absentia that he is suspected of committing offences under the Articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• 110.2 – encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine;
• 110-2.1 – financing actions aimed at forcibly changing or overthrowing the constitutional order, seizing state power, or altering the territorial boundaries or state border of Ukraine;
• 332-2.1, 332-2.2 – unlawful crossing of Ukraine’s state border with the aim of causing harm to the interests of the state, including repeated offences;
• 436-2.3 – justification, recognition as lawful, or denial of russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, and glorification of its participants.

As Degtyarev is currently in russia, efforts to bring him to justice are underway.

The investigation was conducted under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General.