Crime
The budget has lost out on over 90 billion hryvnias due to illicit tobacco
Over the years of full-scale war, Ukraine’s state budget has lost over 90 billion hryvnias due to the proliferation of illicit tobacco products. In 2024, following a reduction in the ‘tobacco shadow’ by the end of 2025, the situation deteriorated once again.
The SSU has charged the captain of a vessel belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet with transporting goods from Crimea
The captain of a foreign vessel was detained in Odessa in December 2025. The investigation established that grain and petroleum products had been transported from the temporarily occupied Crimea.
The State Bureau of Investigation has uncovered a scheme involving illegal combat payments in the Dnipropetrovsk region
Former officials of a unit of the Ukrainian National Guard have been notified that they are under investigation for making unauthorised payments to military personnel. According to the investigation, the losses amounted to almost 12 million hryvnias.
The National Police have uncovered a scheme involving the sale of travel bookings and trips abroad organised by a criminal figure
Law enforcement officers carried out a large-scale operation in several regions and arrested those involved in the scheme. According to preliminary figures, at least 40 people were affected by it.
One of the most wanted mafia figures has been arrested in Italy
Italian police have arrested the leader of a mafia clan, Roberto Mazzarella, who had been on the run from the law for over a year. He was found in a luxury villa on the Amalfi Coast.
Over 1,400 kilograms of cocaine have been seized at the Port of Rotterdam
Law enforcement officers have discovered a large consignment of cocaine hidden in containers at the port of Rotterdam. The bulk of the drugs was found amongst household goods being shipped from Curaçao.
Klymenko explained why Mindich’s extradition from Israel has been delayed
The head of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Oleksandr Klymenko, stated that the delay in processing the extradition request concerning businessman Timur Mindich was not deliberate. According to him, the procedure took time due to the large volume of materials, shortcomings identified in the first set of documents, and the need for translation.
A scheme involving the illegal smuggling of people across the border has been uncovered in the Kharkiv region
Law enforcement officers arrested two suspects as they were receiving $20,000 for organising an illegal crossing of the state border. An investigation is currently underway to identify any other possible participants.
The SSU has detained an engineer at a defence plant in the Dnipropetrovsk region on suspicion of working for Russian intelligence services
The Security Service’s counter-intelligence unit has detained an engineer from a strategic defence enterprise in the Dnipropetrovsk region who is suspected of collaborating with Russian intelligence services. According to the investigation, he was working simultaneously for the FSB and the GRU.
Participants in a pseudo-investment scheme that caused millions in losses are to stand trial in Odessa
Law enforcement officers have concluded their investigation into a group of individuals who organised a fraudulent pseudo-investment scheme. According to the investigation, the victims’ losses amount to almost 6 million hryvnias.
The SBU has notified the former head of Prison No. 4 in the “LPR” that he is under suspicion of torturing prisoners
The Security Service of Ukraine has formally charged the former head of an occupation prison in the Luhansk region in absentia. According to the investigation, he not only ordered the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, but also personally beat them with his hands, feet, a baton and a hammer, and used a stun gun.
An FSB agent who was coordinating air strikes has been arrested in Kramatorsk
The Security Service of Ukraine has detained a man in the Donetsk region who is suspected of collaborating with the FSB. According to the investigation, he was passing on information to facilitate attacks on Kramatorsk.
