Searches are being conducted at MP Skorokhod’s premises in a case over extorting money from a businessman

Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) conducted searches at the home of MP Hanna Skorokhod from the “For the Future” party.

This was first reported by Ukrainska Pravda, citing its sources.

According to the outlet’s interlocutors, investigators consider Skorokhod to be the head of an organized criminal group and suspect her of extorting 250,000 dollars from an entrepreneur.

Shortly after the media reports, NABU officially announced that together with SAP and the SBU it had exposed a criminal group headed by a member of parliament, without naming this person. Investigative actions are ongoing, the statement said, and the Bureau promised to give details later.

Skorokhod herself later confirmed the searches.

“I have nothing to hide, my activities are transparent. However, the timing and context of these events lead to clear conclusions: I see this as direct pressure on the opposition and an attempt to block my political activity because of my principled position,” Skorokhod wrote on Facebook.

The MP entered parliament from the “Servant of the People” party, but in 2019 the party’s faction expelled her after mutual accusations: Skorokhod accused the authorities of detaining her husband Oleksiy Alyakin because she voted against the bill to open the land market, contrary to the faction’s position, while faction head Davyd Arakhamia accused Skorokhod of offering bribes.

Skorokhod now heads a temporary investigative commission of the Verkhovna Rada on investigating possible violations of Ukrainian law in the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and other agencies and organizations. She regularly informs the media about violations and problems in the army and in territorial recruitment centers (TCCs).