High Anti-Corruption Court is considering appeal to change Mykytas’s pre-trial measure LIVE BROADCAST
The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court is considering an appeal against the pre-trial measure imposed on former MP Maksym Mykytas.
This was reported by Censor.NET.
Details
The attorney stated that Mykytas had been under total surveillance since the summer of 2025.
During a search of Mykytas’s residence, a significant number of documents—about 300—were discovered. However, he did not destroy them, according to his defense attorney.
"NABU detectives took appropriate countermeasures against anything he might have destroyed. At present, de facto, there are no items or documents that could be destroyed. Therefore, we consider this risk to be unfounded," he noted.
Mykytas stated that he could not pay "neither 200, 100, nor 30 million," as such an amount is beyond his means.
The former lawmaker also denied that he had been subjected to violence in the pretrial detention center, as previously reported by the media.
The lawyer stated that Stolar and Mykytas have been in a "very intense conflict" for 2.5 months, particularly over financial matters.
What does the prosecutor say?
According to the prosecutor, the defense has adopted a wait-and-see approach.
"So as not to create the impression, following the trial in the court of first instance, that Mr. Mykytas has the financial capabilities. They are waiting specifically for the appellate court’s decision. Stolar is also interested in avoiding criminal liability for both himself and Mykytas. Therefore, theoretically, he might even post bail for Mykytas, since he could be exposed by him," the prosecution explained.
During the hearing, the judge also read aloud that Mykytas had transferred a certain number of thousands of shekels to Mudra’s mother, promising to transfer similar amounts every six months in the future.
"Mykytas had the means to cover two years of Mudra’s daughter’s tuition and living expenses in New York—in a single payment of … over 10 million hryvnias," the judge read from the prosecutor’s motion.
Therefore, they are requesting bail in the amount of 200 million hryvnias.
Operation ‘Forrest Gump’
- It was previously reported that NABU and the SAPO are conducting a special operation to expose a criminal group involving MPs and senior officials from the Office of the President.
- According to media reports, as part of the announced special operation, NABU and the SAPO are carrying out searches at the home of Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Office of the President.
- In addition, NABU detectives carried out searches at the home of Hladyshenko, the chairman of the supervisory board of ‘Sense Bank’.
- Vadym Stolar, a Member of Parliament from the ‘Opposition Platform – For Life’ party, which has been banned by the court, confirmed that NABU and the SAPO are conducting searches at his premises as part of the ‘Forrest Gump’ special operation.
- NABU later stated that the case involved 150 million hryvnias in cash which, according to the investigation, had been channelled into the legal system via a series of accounts held by front companies to pay bail for one of the defendants in the ‘Midas’ case.
- Subsequently, the former deputy head of the Presidential Office, Iryna Mudra, confirmed that her premises were searched on 19 August; she was informed of the charges against her and served with a request for a preventive measure, but was not detained. She is preparing for the court hearing.
- On 20 August, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) released new recordings of conversations involving those implicated in the ‘Forrest Gump’ case — the second part of the investigation, entitled ‘Themis’. This concerns a scheme involving the hostile takeover of property and other assets through unauthorised interference with the Ministry of Justice’s information (automated) networks.
- On 20 August, a prosecutor from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) named all the individuals implicated in NABU’s ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Themis’ operations.
- On 21 August, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on former MP Maksym Mykytas in the form of detention, subject to the payment of 30 million hryvnias in bail.
- On 25 August, Iryna Mudra was remanded in custody with the option of posting bail of 20 million hryvnias.
