Zelensky reacts for first time to “Carthage” case and announces purges of security officials after “Khimprom” scandal

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has reacted for the first time to the exposure by NABU and SAP of a criminal organization as part of Operation Carthage, which included officials of the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

The head of state said this in an address to Ukrainians.

Zelensky promised that there would be personnel decisions, and said that he had approved a draft law on restoring declaration requirements for all SBU employees.

“It is precisely ‘Alfa’ that delivers the most defeats to the Russian occupiers. And indeed one would very much like to see only such results from all other components of the Security Service as well. Unfortunately, this week brought completely different news about the SBU – frankly unpleasant, frankly shameful, absolutely unacceptable things. And there have already been dismissals in the Security Service of Ukraine because of this, and there will be other personnel decisions as well. It is important that the investigation yields the full truth about this situation, so that the masterminds of the crimes, the masterminds of violence against people, are punished,” the president noted.

According to Zelensky, the draft law on declaration is needed so that the lifestyle of SBU employees and everything they own are open to scrutiny and accountability.

“I have approved a draft law on restoring declaration requirements for all SBU employees, so that their lifestyle and everything they own are open to scrutiny and accountability. Just as in other agencies, and, by the way, not only law enforcement ones. I ask parliamentarians to adopt this law without delay,” Zelensky stressed.

He also noted that Ukraine needs the help of partners with regard to the “Khimprom” drug syndicate.

“I know that support from partners is needed for this – regarding this so-called ‘Khimprom’ – and this has already been discussed with America at the appropriate level. A result is required. There is information that this criminal has already begun his operations in Poland. And there is information that he is trying to enter Germany with synthetic drugs. We will pass on all the information we have to our partners,” the president of Ukraine noted.

On November 4, NABU and SAP reported that as part of Operation Carthage they had exposed a criminal organization whose members had established the systematic provision of improper benefits to high-ranking law enforcement officials in exchange for the unimpeded operation of fraudulent call centers and other illegal businesses. At least 12 people were involved in it, including from the SBU, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the National Police and the criminal underworld.

On November 4, NABU officers, as part of Operation Carthage, detained the first deputy head of the SBU Department for the Protection of National Statehood, General Serhiy Duka. The High Anti-Corruption Court sent him into custody for 60 days with a bail of UAH 65 million.

NABU and SAP reported suspicion to five members of the criminal organization exposed as part of Operation Carthage: the founder and leader of the criminal organization Andriy Osypov, known by the alias “Kriminal,” the first deputy head of the SBU Department for the Protection of National Statehood Serhiy Duka, the deputy head of a department of the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv region Oleksandr Demyanchuk, the first deputy head of the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine Volodymyr Tsenov, and an athlete from Zhytomyr region, Vitaliy Rybalko, known by the alias “Boxer.”

On September 1, 2026, the National Police of Ukraine, in cooperation with foreign colleagues from Albania and Kazakhstan, conducted a large-scale special operation and dismantled a network of recruitment call centers of the “Khimprom” criminal community. Under the guise of “easy earnings,” people were drawn into the international drug business – from working as operators and HR managers to performing the functions of chemists, couriers, hostages and logistics specialists.

As part of Operation Carthage, it became known that the ringleader of the Russian drug syndicate “Khimprom” discussed bribing Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko so that he would not initiate a ban on the chemical formulas of their narcotic substances.