The SBU extorts money from businesses using criminal cases over trade with Russia

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and other law enforcement agencies are accusing Ukrainian companies of trading with Russia through intermediary countries.

However, according to Oleksiy Shalaysky, editor-in-chief of the publication Nashi Groshi (“Our Money”), such accusations are often used as a tool to pressure businesses rather than to bring cases to court.

Shalaysky explains that while this kind of trade is not explicitly banned by law, the SBU interprets the payment of taxes in Russia as financing the Russian military. This becomes grounds for opening cases under the charge of treason, which allows authorities to take severe actions — including arrests and holding suspects in pre-trial detention.

He points out that out of approximately 150 such cases, only a few have resulted in verdicts — and only when business owners agreed to plea deals: admitting guilt, donating funds (e.g., to the “Army of Drones” initiative), and receiving suspended sentences. Some cases, even those nearly brought to court, were later dropped “due to lack of evidence of a crime.”

“This isn’t a fight for justice — it’s a way to make money,” the journalist concluded.