Key facts
- NABU and SAPO said the network trafficked drugs, produced counterfeit currency and used violence to intimidate critics and opponents.
- NABU said the group controlled at least 52 scam call center offices, each bringing in around $7,000 a month.
- Some 2,700 people worked at the call centers controlled by the criminal group, NABU said.
- NABU said more than 3.75 million USDT was transferred to a single wallet over several months.
- SAPO previously said Osipov had close ties to former SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk, citing recorded conversations between the two.
- The Anti-Corruption Bureau said Klymenko was not implicated in the alleged plan to bribe ministers.
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have charged five people, including senior National Police officers and Security Service officials, in an investigation known as Operation Carthage, according to a Kyiv Independent report published November 11, 2026. Four were placed in pre-trial detention and one was later released on bail.
The probe began with fraudulent call centers and led to the ouster of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko in September 2026. The anti-corruption agencies say the network also trafficked drugs, produced counterfeit currency and used violence to intimidate critics and opponents.
At the center, according to the agencies, were two men identified by the media as Andrii Osipov and Yehor Burkin, referred to in NABU recordings as "Criminal" and "Mexican." Russian-born Burkin is reportedly the founder of the transnational drug ring Khimprom, which investigators say he headed from 2022 to 2026 while Osipov acted as an intermediary using law enforcement connections. Burkin's whereabouts are unknown, and Zelensky imposed sanctions on him in 2023.
NABU said the group controlled at least 52 scam call center offices targeting people in Ukraine and abroad, each bringing in around $7,000 a month, with some 2,700 people working at them. The agency said more than 3.75 million USDT was transferred to a single wallet over several months. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime estimated profits from scam call centers across Ukraine could reach $1 billion a month.