The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has confirmed that it has initiated proceedings based on a complaint from the Center for Combating Corruption (CCC) regarding alleged criminal actions by Ukraine's Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, under part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or office).
This was stated by NABU in response to a request from the "Interfax-Ukraine" agency, as reported by Tsenzor.NET.
"On January 27, 2025, the National Bureau received a statement from the NGO 'Center for Combating Corruption' regarding potential unlawful actions by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, specifically the possible commission of a criminal offense as stipulated in part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Following the examination of the statement, a decision was made in accordance with Article 214 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine to include information in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations and to initiate a pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings dated January 27, 2025, with preliminary legal qualification under part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the agency stated.
At the same time, NABU indicated that it could not disclose the grounds for initiating the case, what circumstances are being investigated, or whether Umerov has any procedural status in this matter, given the provisions of part 1 of Article 222 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine (prohibition on disclosing information about pre-trial investigations).
It was previously reported that the Center for Combating Corruption filed a complaint with NABU regarding the alleged crime committed by Ukraine's Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, under part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or office).
Subsequently, the CCC announced that NABU had registered proceedings against Umerov on the grounds of abuse of power.