DIU and SSU accompanied Chernyshov upon his return to prevent his arrest by NABU and SAPO, - media
The active phase of the non-public confrontation between Zelenskyy and the anti-corruption authorities began with the case of Oleksii Chernyshev.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in the material of UP.
Interlocutors in law enforcement agencies and the president's entourage said that the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine had to deal with the issue of Chernyshov's return from abroad on Zelenskyy's instructions.
"This happened after the Minister of Unity responded to calls for his return: "I don't see my future in Ukraine."
On the Ukrainian side of the border, Chernyshov, accompanied by DIU officers, was being waited for by officers of another special service, - the SSU. Both the first and the second were supposed to guarantee the minister that he would not be arrested by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors at the entrance to Ukraine and would not end up in a pre-trial detention centre," the article says.
The journalists note that a marker that Zelenskyy not only did not support NABU and SAPO in the Chernyshov's case but also opposed the work of law enforcement was already during the court hearing, when a preventive measure was being imposed on the Deputy Prime Minister.
"After all, he was not simply not fired after being suspected of corruption. On the contrary, a letter from the then Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal (who was completely dependent on the president) argued in court the importance of Chernyshov's staying in a high position. However, exactly two weeks after this meeting, the minister was dismissed anyway, and his Ministry of Unity was liquidated during the change of government.
So either the president wanted to demonstrate publicly that no suspicions from the NABU and the SAPO could influence his decision. Either Chernyshov has done all the important work on Ukrainian unity in these two weeks and his position has lost its relevance," the author writes.
According to UP's sources in law enforcement, in the midst of the scandal surrounding Chernyshov's case, the Presidential Office held a series of meetings with the heads of law enforcement agencies controlled by the government.
"In particular, the state leadership accused law enforcement officers of having no dirt on the anti-corruption agencies. After that, the SBI began investigating the road accidents involving NABU employees, which they suddenly decided to hold on the same day as the SSU 's activities to eliminate Russian influence on individual employees of the anti-corruption agencies. Despite the fact that one of the accidents took place back in 2021.
Our interlocutors say that the heads of the law enforcement agencies controlled by the Office of the President were given a task: to do everything possible to destroy the influence of NABU / SAPO," they added.
The case of corruption in the Ministry of Reconstruction under Chernyshov
Last week, the NABU served five people with a notice of suspicion in a case of corruption in the construction sector involving top government officials.
In particular, Vasyl Volodin, a member of the Board of "Naftogaz" of Ukraine, Maksym Horbatiuk, Chief Commercial Officer of "Ukrgazvydobuvannia" JSC, Alla Sushon, former Director of "Ukrkomunobslugovuvannia" SE, and Serhii Kopystyra, a developer, were suspected of abuse of office, receiving and giving an undue advantage in a particularly large amount.
On 13 June, the HACC arrested Horbatiuk with the option of posting UAH 25 million bail, on 17 June, the court arrested Volodin with an alternative of UAH 20 million bail, and on 20 June, the developer, Kopystyr was granted a preventive measure in the form of arrest with an alternative of UAH 100 million bail.
At the time of the crime, Volodin was the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Regional Development, and Horbatiuk was an adviser to the head of the ministry, Oleksii Chernyshov, who later became the head of "Naftogaz", where his associates also went to work. Chernyshov is now the head of the Ministry of National Unity and is abroad.
According to the investigation, the developer developed a scheme to illegally obtain a land plot in Kyiv for the construction of a residential complex. To do this, he turned to top officials of the Ministry of Regional Development, who created the conditions for the transfer of land to a state-controlled enterprise. The latter illegally entered into investment agreements with the construction company in question. At the same time, the land and the buildings on it were valued at almost five times cheaper, and the difference between this valuation and the market value exceeded UAH 1 billion.
According to the UP, NABU detectives planned to conduct a search of Chernyshov's place a year ago, but it was cancelled at the request of the Bureau's director, Semen Kryvonos. At the same time, Chernyshov secretly met with Kryvonos, later explaining that the meeting was to discuss the anti-corruption programme of "Naftogaz". Kryvonos himself denied any involvement in the cancellation of Chernyshov's searches.
On 27 June, the HACC imposed a preventive measure on Oleksii Chernyshov in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 120,002,668 with a number of procedural obligations.
On 2 July, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Unity Oleksii Chernyshov was granted UAH 120 million bail.
On 2 July 2025, the HACC did not remove Chernyshov from the post of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Unity.
