A month before the events surrounding the dismantling of Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to step in to rescue a close family friend – who also happened to be Vice Prime Minister and former Minister for National Unity of Ukraine – Oleksiy Chernyshov, from receiving a notice of suspicion from NABU and SAPO.
That’s according to reporting by Ukrainska Pravda.
Sources told the outlet that the president had instructed the Main Directorate of Intelligence to arrange Chernyshov’s return from abroad. Chernyshov himself had earlier stated he “did not see his future in Ukraine.”
“On the Ukrainian side of the border, Chernyshov was met by intelligence operatives from the HUR, while agents of another special service — the SBU — stood by as well. Both services were tasked with ensuring that Chernyshov would not be arrested by NABU detectives or SAPO prosecutors at the border and would not end up in pre-trial detention” the article states.
The publication also notes that Zelenskyy not only failed to support NABU and SAPO in the Chernyshov case but actively opposed the law enforcement agencies. In particular, after Chernyshov was formally suspected of corruption, he was not only not dismissed but his continued presence in office was justified in court as important.
“Thus, either the president wanted to publicly demonstrate that no suspicions from NABU and SAPO could influence his decisions, or during those two weeks Chernyshov completed all the important work on uniting Ukrainians and his position became irrelevant,” writes Ukrainska Pravda.
Tags: chernyshov nabu SBU
