Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies said on August 19, 2026, that they are carrying out a special operation against a criminal organization allegedly led by lawmakers. Senior officials from the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are also said to be involved.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, known as NABU, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, SAPO, announced the operation on Wednesday morning. Avisen Danmark reports, citing Reuters, that the agencies are working to expose a criminal organization operating inside the Ukrainian state apparatus.
According to the agencies, the group is led by current and former members of parliament. The reporting also states that high-ranking officials from the presidential office are part of the structure under investigation.
The agencies gave no further information about the case at this stage. They stressed that additional details would be published later, as Reuters notes in its coverage.
What the agencies have said
Interfax-Ukraine cites a statement posted on NABU’s Telegram channel. Per that statement, the organization operates under the leadership of a sitting and a former Ukrainian lawmaker, and involves senior officials of the Presidential Office and other individuals.
The Kyiv Independent reports the same core claim from NABU. The outlet notes that the bureau signaled that details of the operation and the people involved will be revealed later, once investigative steps allow.
Ukrainian outlet UA.News uses a more cautious formulation. As reported there, investigators are examining the possible involvement of current and former members of the Verkhovna Rada and officials from the Office of the President, and the information released so far is preliminary.
No outlet has published the names of the lawmakers or officials connected to this specific operation. NABU and SAPO have not publicly identified any suspects at this stage, according to Reuters and Interfax-Ukraine.
Timing of the announcement
Reuters reports that the agencies went public while the operation was still underway. That points to the timing being tied to the launch or escalation of the operation itself, rather than to a scheduled vote or a legal deadline.
Interfax-Ukraine and the Kyiv Independent both frame the case as part of NABU and SAPO’s wider work on high-level corruption involving the Presidential Office. Neither outlet cites a specific external trigger beyond the agencies’ decision to speak publicly at this point in the investigation.
NABU’s own institutional reporting for the first half of 2026, published on August 6, 2026, describes ongoing work on high-level corruption schemes linked to the Presidential Office. The August 19 operation is described there only in brief terms, with the bureau stating that more information will follow.
