Information about the destruction of classified materials by the State Bureau of Investigation employees was entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations of Ukraine.
This was reported by a source in one of Ukraineʼs law enforcement agencies to the TV channel "Nastoyashee Vremya" (created by Radio Liberty with the participation of "Voice of America"). This was also confirmed by two sources familiar with the course of the investigation.
The pre-trial investigation was started under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: 111 — "Treason" and 329 — "Loss of documents containing state secrets".
The investigation is conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office. No one has yet been served with a Suspicion Notice in this proceeding.
The investigation into the destruction of classified materials of criminal cases began before President Volodymyr Zelensky removed SBU head Ivan Bakanov and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova from their positions.
- On July 7, the journalists of the "Nastoyastchee vremya" TV channel reported that on the first day of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, representatives of the State Bureau of Investigation destroyed important documents.
- The State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine initially stated that the information presented in the investigation was false and manipulative, but later the conclusions of the journalistic investigation were confirmed by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in response to a request.