"We consider these searches to be another wave of attack on Vitaliy Shabunin and the Anti-Corruption Action Center for criticizing the Presidential Office and (Presidential Office head) Andrii Yermak personally," the center said.

Law enforcement agencies are conducting searches at the home and military unit of Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center’s (AntAC) executive board, who is currently serving in the army, the center said on July 11.

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation also seized Shabunin’s phone, the statement said.

According to the center, the searches are taking place without a court order.

The exact reason for the searches remains unclear, but Shabunin’s team believes the move may be connected to a criminal case involving Viktor Yushko, a serviceman and former commander of the 207th battalion of the territorial defense of Kyiv, where Shabunin served at the beginning of the full-scale war.

“We consider these searches to be another wave of attack on Vitaliy Shabunin and the AntAC for criticizing the Presidential Office and (Presidential Office head) Andrii Yermak personally,” the AntAC’s statement read.

Yushko is under investigation for alleged abuse of power, accused of authorizing fictitious business trips for military personnel, including Shabunin.

Yushko is suspected of approving Shabunin’s business trip to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP), allegedly allowing him to avoid combat duties.

A day earlier on July 10, Shabunin said he had been reassigned from his post in the city of Kharkiv to a front-line brigade — a move he believes was linked to his anti-corruption efforts and criticism of the government.

In May, Shabunin told the Kyiv Independent that three criminal cases had been opened against him since the start of the full-scale war.

Shabunin, one of Ukraine’s most influential anti-corruption crusaders, believes the cases to be politically motivated, linking them to the President’s Office and controversial Deputy Chief of Staff Oleh Tatarov.

The activist has regularly criticized Tatarov, who was charged with bribery in 2020. Law enforcement agencies have obstructed and eventually closed the case against Tatarov.

Tatarov allegedly holds considerable influence over law enforcement agencies, according to investigative journalists. President Volodymyr Zelensky has refused to suspend or fire Tatarov despite the controversies.

The Kyiv Independent reached out to the Presidential Office for comment but has not received an immediate response.

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