The National Anti-Corruption Agency of Ukraine (NACP) has completed its monitoring of the lifestyle of the former head of the SBU Cybersecurity Department, Brigadier General Illya Vitiuk, and found no discrepancies between his declared and actual wealth, according to a statement from the agency.
The NACP’s investigation was prompted by a report from Slidstvo.Info, which revealed that Vitiuk’s relatives own elite real estate worth at least 25.5 million hryvnias ($656,671), including a premium-class apartment valued at 21.5 million hryvnias ($585,000).
A few days before the publication of the investigation, the journalist was approached by employees of the Solomianskyi military registration and enlistment office, who tried to hand him a draft summons. According to Slidstvo.info, the military officers could have been instructed by an employee of the SBU’s Cybersecurity Department, trying to punish the investigative journalist who exposed Vityuk’s elite property.
In response to an information request from Slidstvo.Info, the NACP stated that the monitoring of Vitiuk’s lifestyle was completed on September 10.
“At present, the National Agency has not established any discrepancy between the value of the property owned by Illya Vitiuk and his family members and their legal income, which exceeds the subsistence minimum by 500 times or more, which could indicate the unjustified acquisition of assets,” the NACP said in its response.
During the monitoring of Vitiuk’s lifestyle, the NACP did not find any inconsistencies between his declared assets and income.
The NACP began its investigation into Vitiuk’s lifestyle in April this year, following the publication of the Slidstvo.Info report. Journalists discovered that in December 2023, Vitiuk’s wife purchased a 195-square-meter apartment in a premium residential complex in Kyiv, with a market value of 21.5 million hryvnias ($585,000).
Additionally, shortly after Vitiuk was appointed head of the SBU Cybersecurity Department, his wife registered as an individual entrepreneur and began receiving significant sums of money. In 2022, she earned 9.4 million hryvnias ($291,054), and in 2023, she earned 13.4 million hryvnias ($346,852).
Vitiuk’s mother, who works as a doctor, also owns real estate in Kyiv residential complexes, with a market value of over 4 million hryvnias (over $300,000) at the time of purchase.
A few days before the publication of the investigation into Vitiuk’s family assets, employees of the Solomianskyi military registration and enlistment office approached Slidstvo.Info journalist Yevheniy Shulhat and attempted to hand him a draft summons. According to Slidstvo.Info, the instructions to serve the call-up papers may have come from an employee of the SBU Cybersecurity Department, in an attempt to punish the journalist who exposed Vitiuk’s elite property.
Following this incident, Slidstvo.Info journalist Yevheniy Shulhat and lawyer Oksana Maksymeniuk filed a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) regarding the incident with the draft summons.
The General Staff announced that the head of the Solomianskyi military registration and enlistment office was demoted to a lower position in one of the combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the head of the SBU suspended the head of the Cybersecurity Department, Illya Vitiuk, from his duties. The SBU also reported that Vitiuk was sent to the front to perform combat tasks. On May 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Illya Vitiuk from his position as head of the Department.
However, recently, Illya Vitiuk was spotted at an event dedicated to the development of electronic warfare in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A photo of Vitiuk in traditional Ukrainian embroidery was posted on the Facebook page of one of the event’s participants, but the post was later deleted after causing controversy.
Slidstvo.Info journalists also established that SBU General Vitiuk, as an operative of the service, filmed the shootings on Maidan from the side of the Berkut riot police. This information was confirmed by the Office of the Prosecutor General and the former head of the department investigating Maidan crimes, Serhiy Horbatiuk. The video was later removed from the internet.
In response to a request from Slidstvo.Info, the SBU security service stated that as of now, Illya Vityuk “does not hold any staff positions within the SBU structure, remains a military serviceman in accordance with the Law, and fulfills his duty to defend the state, including performing tasks related to countering the enemy with the help of unmanned systems.”
The video has English subtitles.
