Key facts
- A former head of Ukraine's SBU Cybersecurity Department faces charges of illicit enrichment and false asset declarations.
- The case involves the purchase of an apartment allegedly undervalued in official declarations.
- Investigators claim funds for the apartment came from an individual accused of embezzlement from Ukrzaliznytsia.
- The investigation was prompted by a media report on the family's real estate acquisitions.
- The official was dismissed from his post by President Zelensky in May 2024.
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have forwarded to court a case against a former head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SBU) Cybersecurity Department, who is accused of illicit enrichment and providing false information in an asset declaration. Law enforcement officials have not publicly identified the defendant, but sources indicate the case pertains to Illia Vitiuk.
Investigators allege that in December 2023, the official acquired an apartment valued at Hr 21.6 million ($522,000) and registered it under a family member's name, though the purchase agreement listed the property's value at Hr 12.8 million ($310,000). To account for the funds, the family member claimed to have provided legal and consulting services since February 2022. NABU stated that money was transferred to the family member's accounts for these purported services, but the funds originated from an individual accused of embezzling from the state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia and associated companies.
NABU asserts that evidence suggests the services were not rendered and the companies involved showed signs of being fictitious. The bureau also noted the official's failure to demonstrate the lawful origin of an additional Hr 8.8 million ($213,000) spent on the apartment. Vitiuk was charged in September 2025 under Ukraine’s Criminal Code for illicit enrichment and false declaration, and he posted Hr 9 million ($201,700) in bail.
The case originated from a Slidstvo.Info investigation in April 2024, which reported that Vitiuk’s wife purchased a 195-square-meter apartment in Kyiv for an estimated market value of Hr 21.5 million, but declared a purchase price of Hr 12.8 million. His wife reportedly stated the funds were earned through legal and consulting work after Russia's full-scale invasion began.
Following the investigation's publication, Vitiuk was suspended, sent to serve at the front, and subsequently dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 1, 2024. Slidstvo.Info later reported that the journalist leading the investigation was targeted by enlistment officers, allegedly accompanied by an SBU employee from Vitiuk’s department. The SBU has refuted the charges, describing the case as retaliation following the detention of NABU employees earlier that year, and claimed investigators disregarded evidence challenging the property's undervaluation.