«كارثيج»: Ukraine anti-corruption agencies uncover new criminal organization
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office disclosed new findings in Operation “Carthage”, alleging a criminal organization that ran fraudulent call centres and other illegal businesses with alleged protection from senior law-enforcement officials. Five participants were notified of suspicion, while the investigation remains ongoing and significant evidence has not been disclosed.
أبرز النقاط
- NABU and SAP disclosed the new findings on 4 November 2026
- The alleged organization included at least 12 people and coordinated at least 52 call centres
- Participants allegedly paid about $7,000 per month for each call centre’s protection
- Suspected activities included fraud, drug trafficking, counterfeit cigarettes and forged foreign currency
- Five group members were notified of suspicion on 5 November
- SBU General Serhii Duk was detained on 4 November and given a bail option of 65 million hryvnias
- Operation “Carthage” remains ongoing, with substantial material withheld from the public
لماذا يهمّ ذلك
The allegations point to a protection racket allegedly involving senior officials from the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police and the Prosecutor General’s Office. Investigators say the group coordinated at least 52 fraudulent call centres and paid roughly $7,000 per month for each centre’s protection. The case also covers alleged violence against people who opposed the illegal business, while several senior officials have been detained or placed under arrest.
ماذا حدث
NABU and SAP published the second-stage findings of Operation “Carthage” on 4 November 2026. According to investigators, the newly uncovered organization had at least 12 participants, five of whom were notified of suspicion on 5 November. The group allegedly coordinated at least 52 fraudulent call centres, typically paying $7,000 per month for each centre’s protection, and was suspected of fraud, drug trafficking, counterfeit cigarette production and the manufacture of forged foreign currency.
Detective officers detained SBU General Serhii Duk at about 13:00 on 4 November. National Police officials Volodymyr Tsenov and Oleksandr Demianchuk, as well as boxing club founder Vitalii Rybalko, were also reportedly detained. On 5 November, the Higher Anti-Corruption Court placed Tsenov under arrest for 60 days with a bail alternative of 15 million hryvnias, and Rybalko under arrest without bail. Duk was also held in custody with a 65-million-hryvnia bail option, while Demianchuk was placed under arrest without the option of bail the following day.
Prosecutor Mykola Karas said Duk and his armed escort resisted detectives during a search and that Duk spent two hours destroying evidence, including phones. NABU subsequently opened a criminal proceeding concerning resistance to detectives, with the State Bureau of Investigation handling the case. SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad dismissed two senior SBU officials who became involved in the investigation.
كيف تصفه المصادر الأوكرانية
Ukrainian reporting emphasizes that the published findings represent only the tip of a larger alleged corruption network and that the investigation remains active. Coverage focuses on the alleged exchange of money and state protection between organized crime and corrupt law-enforcement officials, the scale of the call-centre scheme, payments for protection, violence against opponents, and institutional consequences including arrests and dismissals. Oleksandr Abakumov frames the case as a threat to state institutions and argues that fighting corruption during the war is necessary for the state’s survival.
أين تختلف الروايات
Ukrainian reports vary in how they spell the detained former Security Service general’s name, using Serhii Duk, Serhii Duka and Сергій Дук.
الخلفية
Operation “Carthage” began with an earlier stage in which prosecutors alleged that a group in the Prosecutor General’s Office systematically took bribes from fraudulent call centres and laundered the proceeds. Investigators alleged that Serhii Kropyva created the group in mid-2025 by recruiting serving prosecutors and close unofficial associates. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned after Prosecutor General’s Office employees were detained, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed him on 15 September. The second stage focused on a separate organization with at least 12 alleged participants.