Acid, Hammers and SBU General: What Operation Carthage Reveals About Ukraine’s Unreformed Security Service

Ukraine faces another major corruption scandal, discovered by NABU. On the evening of Nov. 4, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) released video footage containing materials from Operation Carthage, an investigation into large-scale corruption schemes within the leadership of law enforcement agencies. Earlier that morning, NABU investigators searched the premises of Serhii Duka, a general with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) – the country’s main security and counterintelligence agency, roughly equivalent to the FBI. Duka served as deputy head of the SBU’s Department for the Protection of National Statehood, which is responsible for countering Russian espionage, subversive activities, hostile propaganda, and other threats.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The NABU material consists of conversations and messages between suspects obtained through covert investigative measures. What emerged was not simply a corruption scandal but, without exaggeration, a picture of extraordinary brutality and depravity. At the center of the scheme, according to NABU, was a Russian citizen with ties to the FSB, known by the codename “Mexican,” who allegedly founded the international drug cartel Khimprom. His people in Ukraine included individuals who allegedly ensured the cartel’s immunity and protection for its drug trafficking through law enforcement agencies, including the SBU. Other Topics of Interest Threatening NABU-SBU Tensions Flare Over Probe on Scam Call Centers The standoff follows a series of conflicts between the agencies, with the latest raids reportedly tied to the recent fraud call center scandal that ousted the prosecutor general. According to the case materials, Duka was the SBU’s alleged protector within the scheme. He used the codename “Akim” in conversations, and NABU believes his role was to shield the group from SBU investigation. The scheme also allegedly involved at least one SBU colonel and two senior officers from the Interior Ministry. One of them was a senior official in the National Police’s Department of Strategic Investigations, who allegedly leaked information about virtually all law enforcement operations targeting the group. H2: Call Centers, Drug Trafficking and law enforcement NABU’s official statement on the case provides a brief description: “Under the protection of law enforcement officers, members of the organization ensured the operation of fraudulent call centers that deceived Ukrainian citizens and foreigners, the sale of narcotic drugs, as well as the illegal production of counterfeit cigarettes and forged foreign currency,” the statement reads. But the case materials point to a far wider range of crimes. The scheme’s participants were allegedly involved not only in drug trafficking, but also in kidnapping and torturing people, as well as counterfeiting foreign currency. They also allegedly coordinated call centers – criminal operations that contacted people while posing as bank employees and tricked them into handing over their money. The scale of the scheme is enormous. Tens of thousands of people fall victim to call-center scams every year. According to Kyiv Post sources in the police, dozens of defrauded citizens go to the police in Kyiv alone every day. The amount stolen from a victim’s bank card or obtained through fraudulent loans can reach several thousand dollars in a single incident. According to expert estimates, between 1,000 and 1,500 such “offices” operate in Ukraine, employing approximately 60,000 people. Because of the enormous financial losses, in September 2026, the Verkhovna Rada significantly increased criminal penalties. Anyone working at a fraudulent call center, organizing its operations – now faces up to 12 years in prison, with confiscation of property. Few expected this to have much effect, as many had long suspected that call centers enjoyed protection from the security services. NABU’s investigation appears to confirm that suspicion. H2:: Brutality on a Russian Scale For many Ukrainians, there were even more disturbing revelations. The video footage shows suspects boasting about torturing people and sharing videos of hostages being beaten with hammers. In one exchange, a suspect writes to another, who had carried out an attack: “My little kittens! The main thing is to make sure that this scum is as badly broken as possible. I’m afraid he might not get enough of it.” Picture ““My little kittens! The main thing is to make sure that this scum is as badly broken as possible. I’m afraid he might not get enough of it.”(Screenshot from NABU video dated March 19, 2025) The perpetrator sends a video of the beating and responds: “Brother, I’m telling you, he’s f***** up beyond belief… …Believe me, his legs are nothing but rags now.” Picture: Screenshot from NABU video In another excerpt, the suspects discuss what to do about investigative journalist Denys Bihus and members of his team, who were the first to expose the cartel’s chain of stores selling drugs disguised as souvenirs. “If he doesn’t make a video about us now, he’ll do it in six months. So we could just pour acid on him – that would make him unpresentable,” one of the suspects suggests. Picture: Screenshot from NABU video The investigative team at Bihus.Info confirmed that the threats were directed against them. “Criminals had these plans for us when they learned about our investigation into U420 (a chain of stores distributing drugs – ed.). According to the investigation, the organization operated under the protection of law enforcement agencies. The organization included at least 12 people, among them current senior officials from the SBU, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the National Police,” the journalists said. In another episode, the Russian head of the Khimprom cartel discusses how to deal with an activist and former serviceman who had been held in Russian captivity. “I think we should either throw acid on him or beat him to death with a hammer. Well, acid might be going too far, but it would send a very clear message to others so they don’t even think about getting involved in this,” one of the suspects says. Picture: Screenshot from NABU video H2: Are the Security Service and the Interior Ministry becoming entangled with organized crime? Another issue that sparked an intense reaction on social media and across Ukrainian society was the extent to which organized crime had become closely intertwined with the SBU and the Interior Ministry. While discussing what to do with people they considered inconvenient – whether to throw acid on them or beat them with hammers – the suspects directly discussed how to involve the SBU. “Brother, talk to the Service (the Security Service of Ukraine – ed.). They know better than anyone how to cause trouble,” one suspect tells another. Picture: Screenshot from NABU video The SBU’s response was relatively restrained. According to the agency’s press service, “SBU Chief Oleksandr Poklad dismissed Security Service employees who became suspects in the NABU investigation.” “The SBU provides full support and assistance with all necessary procedural actions in the criminal proceedings in question. The Security Service expects a transparent, objective, and impartial investigation. Cooperation is clear and constructive,” the statement reads. Nevertheless, this did not spare the agency a wave of criticism from public figures, politicians, and ordinary Ukrainians, including in the comments under the statement. Few of them believe that the SBU leadership was unaware of what was happening under the protection of its officials and generals. For some time, Ukrainian experts have informally divided the SBU into its “frontline” and “rear” components. The “frontline” branch – which includes SBU units conducting highly professional and complex operations on and behind enemy lines – enjoys public and expert respect. The “rear” component, whose traditional responsibilities include counterintelligence and countering hostile propaganda and sabotage, is associated by some with bribery, abuse of authority, and protection of criminal or semi-criminal schemes. Interestingly, SBU officers themselves do not dismiss this informal division. One SBU officer who has personally conducted numerous operations at the front told Kyiv Post journalists privately that he supports media pressure and investigations targeting the “rear” component of his agency. H2: Why Has This Happened? One reason, according to Kyiv Post sources, is the failure to reform the SBU. The Security Service still retains many functions that are not traditionally part of an intelligence agency and carry significant corruption risks, including the investigation of economic crimes – responsibilities that Ukraine has already assigned to a separate agency, the Bureau of Economic Security. Business representatives have repeatedly complained to activists and the media about SBU officials exceeding their authority during investigations. Reports have also repeatedly appeared in the press and on social media about offers to close criminal cases in exchange for money. Many suspected that some cases were opened specifically to extort bribes. This is not exclusively an SBU problem. According to numerous accounts, many law enforcement agencies engage in similar practices. Typically, a criminal case is opened on the flimsiest of pretexts, after which a businessperson must either spend time and money fighting the case in court or negotiate directly with law enforcement officers to have it closed in exchange for money. To minimize the damage caused by such cases, the Prosecutor General’s Office itself sometimes closes them. This happened, for example, in the summer of 2025, when more than 3,000 out of 20,000 criminal cases against businesses were discontinued. “Formally, these proceedings had explanations. However, they had not been investigated for years; they contained no objective evidence confirming the elements or the occurrence of a crime; and, ultimately, they had no prospects in court,” then-Prosecutor General Kravchenko said. Another reason is that Ukraine’s SBU was not established from scratch as the intelligence service of an independent state. It was created from the Ukrainian branch of the Soviet-era KGB, a repressive institution responsible for persecuting Ukrainian intellectuals and elites. In 1991, the old personnel were not dismissed; the departments were simply renamed. Former KGB officers were never punished for their anti-Ukrainian activities, nor were they subjected to lustration. The same applies to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which is essentially a renamed version of the Ukrainian SSR’s prosecutor’s office, and the police, whose personnel structure was inherited directly from the Soviet militia, along with all its problems and shortcomings. Former members of parliament point to two clear reasons: the overwhelming presence of Communists and former Communists in the parliament at the time, who blocked any radical changes, and a shortage of qualified personnel, as virtually all specialists and professionals came from the old security services and had been trained under the old system. Oles Shevchenko, a former member of parliament who was himself a dissident during the Soviet era, recalled how it happened. “It was in 1990, when Ukraine already had sovereignty and we had become members of parliament, but the Soviet KGB still existed. Naturally, the Verkhovna Rada decided to put an end to the KGB. Instead, we were supposed to establish a new agency to replace it – the National Security Service of Ukraine (SNBU). And then Lieutenant General [Mykolo] Holushko addressed the Verkhovna Rada. He was seeking approval for the position. He had been the head of the KGB in Ukraine and now wanted to be appointed head of the SNBU. He received a majority of the votes... Two months later, he fled to Moscow, taking with him all the most important classified documents from the newly established SNBU. I believe that mistake is still affecting us today. But at the time, we did not have enough strength. There were not enough democratic forces in the Verkhovna Rada to make it happen. And what should we have done? We should have completely dismantled the entire KGB structure and built a new agency from scratch, ensuring that no former KGB employees or their relatives could join it...” Shevchenko said. Reforming the SBU, along with the police, is one of the European Union’s requirements for Ukraine’s accession. However, none of Ukraine’s six presidents since 1991 – has yet dared to undertake such a reform.