SBI
The State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) is a Ukrainian law enforcement agency responsible for investigating crimes committed by high-ranking officials, judges and law enforcement personnel, and for combating organised crime.
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Ukraine's SBU dismantles seven illegal arms trafficking channels across multiple regions
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), working with the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) and the National Police, said on 15 October it had shut down seven channels of illegal weapons and ammunition sales in several regions of the country. Suspects include active-duty servicemen, a village council deputy and a local repeat offender; seized items range from Russian AK-12 assault rifles to nearly 390 kilograms of explosives.
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Odesa court convicts nine military recruitment staff for illegal detentions and violence
The Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa found nine employees of a district territorial centre of recruitment (TCC and SP) guilty of illegally detaining men and using violence during mobilization. Seven received real prison sentences of up to seven years and one month, while the remaining two received suspended or alternative sentences. Two further TCC employees who denied guilt remain under judicial review.
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Ukraine's top investigator faces questions on brother's real estate, deflects to family
Oleksiy Sukhachov, director of Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (DBR), spoke for the first time to journalists from Slidstvo.Info about an investigation into 143 apartments and office premises in Kharkiv acquired by his brother, businessman Oleksandr Sukhachov. Encountered on the morning of October 8 at a public sports ground in Kyiv, Sukhachov called the information "not corresponding to reality" and told reporters to contact his brother. The encounter was physically obstructed by unidentified men in black, one of whom identified himself as a law-enforcement officer. The interview followed an earlier pre-publication court ban on the investigation that triggered a multi-outlet solidarity action and condemnation from international press-freedom groups.
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Verkhovna Rada faces 26-day gap in plenary sessions as MP and press service clash over whether parliament is on break
The Verkhovna Rada will not hold plenary sessions from 17 September to 13 October, according to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak. The parliament's press service disputes this framing, saying the Rada continues to work through committees and other bodies. The gap comes as several laws tied to Ukraine's international commitments face year-end deadlines.
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Ukraine's parliament backs bill boosting parliamentary oversight of law enforcement
On 17 September, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, adopted draft law No. 14130 in first reading with 240 votes in favor. The bill strengthens parliamentary control over law enforcement and prosecutorial bodies, including mandatory annual reporting by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General on torture and ill-treatment investigations.
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Ukraine's government submits 2027 draft budget to parliament: defense at 44% of GDP, $52.6 billion external financing required
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved and submitted the draft State Budget for 2027 to the Verkhovna Rada on September 15, 2026. The bill, registered as No. 16000, allocates 4 trillion 885 billion hryvnias (about 43.8–44% of GDP) to defense and security, projects total expenditures of 7 trillion 272 billion hryvnias, and identifies an external financing requirement of $52.6 billion, of which only $20 billion has been confirmed by partners.
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Anti-Corruption Center says Ukrainian investigators knew of alleged crimes in Skelia regiment since March
Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Center (ЦПК) has alleged that the State Bureau of Investigation (ДБР) may have known since at least March 2026 about alleged crimes in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia" but failed to open pretrial investigations until after a Babel media investigation was published in June. According to ЦПК, the Office of the Military Ombudsman sent eight letters to the ДБР and the Office of the Prosecutor General between March and June 2026 describing possible offenses including torture, physical violence and failure to provide medical aid resulting in death; in six of those cases the ДБР declined to open pretrial investigations, citing insufficient grounds.
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Three ex-police officers in Ukrainian assault regiment charged with planting drugs on former brigade commander
Three former law-enforcement officers now serving in a Ukrainian assault regiment have been formally notified of suspicion for allegedly planting about 30 packets of cannabis and PVP in the car of Oleksandr Shyrshyn, a former battalion commander in the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade "Mahura," in Kharkiv on the night of 27–28 August 2026. The case has exposed a long-running conflict between Shyrshyn and the commander of the 225th Separate Assault Regiment, Oleh Shyriaiev, and prompted a service investigation by the 16th Army Corps.
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Ukraine's Prosecutor General Kravchenko resigns amid NABU 'Carthage' corruption probe
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko submitted his resignation on the evening of 7 September after NABU and SAPO exposed a criminal organization within the Office of the Prosecutor General accused of protecting fraudulent call centers. First Deputy Prosecutor General Maria Vdovychenko also resigned. The president has not yet formally submitted the dismissal to the Verkhovna Rada.
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Ukraine military intelligence chief calls Kyiv SBU–HUR shooting "unacceptable," denies "war between special services"
Head of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) Oleh Ivashchenko publicly commented on the September 2 shooting between SBU and HUR personnel in Kyiv, calling it an "unacceptable incident" and rejecting suggestions of a "war between special services." The shooting occurred in the Berezniaky district during investigative actions linked to Russian Volunteer Corps deputy commander Stepan Kaplunov. The SBU and HUR have given competing accounts of the incident, and the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Prosecutor General have opened pretrial investigations.
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Kyiv shootout between SBU and GUR erupts over alleged FSB plot against Chechen exile leader Zakayev
Ukraine's SBU said it prevented an FSB-ordered plot to assassinate Akhmed Zakayev, the exiled head of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria's government, who was in Kyiv for Independence Day on 24 August. The case targeted Stepan Kaplunov, a Russian-national volunteer and deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) embedded in a GUR special unit. On 2 September, a shootout in Kyiv's Berezniaky district during a search of Kaplunov's apartment left three GUR personnel wounded. Kaplunov and RDK say he was abducted by SBU officers on 23 August and his confession was extracted under pressure; the SBU says his group attacked its investigative team. President Zelensky called the incident 'absolutely shameful,' an SBU official was dismissed, and the DBR and Prosecutor General's Office opened investigations.
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Zelensky dismisses senior SBU official after Kyiv shootout between GUR and SBU
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on 2 September dismissing Oleh Vitaliyovych Khramov from his post as head of the SBU's Department of State Secrets Protection and Licensing. The move follows an armed clash in Kyiv's Dnipro district between personnel of Ukraine's military intelligence (GUR) and the Security Service (SBU), connected to the reported abduction of Russian Volunteer Corps deputy commander Stepan Kaplunov.
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Armed clash between SBU and HUR in Kyiv linked to missing Russian Volunteer Corps deputy commander
On the morning of 2 September, an armed confrontation broke out on Yurii Shumskoho Street in Kyiv's Dnipro district between operatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and personnel of the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of the Ministry of Defence. The SBU said its Alpha unit used weapons against an armed group that attacked its investigative team during a search tied to a joint SBU–HUR operation that allegedly foiled an FSB terrorist plot against a Russian opposition figure in Ukraine for Independence Day. Media and Kaplunov's lawyer say the shooting was opened by the SBU against unarmed HUR personnel after a handshake agreement, with several HUR servicemen wounded. President Zelensky condemned the incident as "absolutely shameful" and signalled personnel decisions and internal investigations.