The head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Shabunin, is being prepared for suspicion of ‘failure to report for military service

Ukrainian law enforcement authorities are preparing charges against Vitaliy Shabunin, the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, for failing to report for military service and allegedly misusing a vehicle purchased by volunteers for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine, citing sources in law enforcement.

According to the source, “In the near future, an indictment is being prepared for the public activist and chairman of the board of the public organization Anti-Corruption Action Center for committing at least two crimes.”

Previously, Shabunin stated that he voluntarily mobilized in the AFU in the early days of the full-scale war. He published a photo of his military ID, noting that he took the military oath on February 25, 2022.

Shabunin responded to the news of the impending charges, saying,

“For those in the President’s Office—aside from voluntary mobilization, I have had legal grounds for demobilization from the first day of service, which I have not used. Also, (according to Interfax), I am accused of not transferring a car from a charitable foundation to a military unit, which was provided to me personally as a serviceman. Dear figures from the President’s Office, I was not supposed to do this. There are two forms of car transfer: for a military unit (cars are assigned black plates) and personally to a soldier (remaining on foreign plates) (p. 3-3, Article 15 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Humanitarian Assistance’).”

In March, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of Ukraine opened a criminal case against Shabunin on suspicion of document forgery and evasion of military service. The SBI reported that on October 6, 2023, the department received a statement from Rostyslav Kravets, head of the public organization Public Integrity Council, regarding possible “illegal” actions by Shabunin.

At that time, the Kyiv Territorial Department of the SBI sent Kravets’ statement to the Central Directorate of the Military Law Enforcement Service for an internal investigation.

In November, the SBI of Ukraine opened two criminal cases under Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (forgery of documents) and Article 409 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (evasion of military service). In December, the prosecutor decided to combine the two criminal cases. The pre-trial investigation is currently ongoing.