"We need international support to tackle ’Khimprom’," - Zelenskyy
The activities of the criminal group "Khimprom" must be brought to a complete halt with international support. The group is already attempting to expand its operations into Poland and Germany.
According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made this statement whilst speaking to journalists.
"Such risks exist in other countries too. They have already entered Poland and are trying to enter Germany – this is what we were talking about and what the intelligence reports indicate," said the president.
Zelenskyy also suggested that this "operation is certainly not taking place without the support of the security services – and not just the ‘Russians’."
"These are people with unlimited financial resources who have been trying to 'buy off' people in various institutions for years – and not just in Ukraine," remarked the head of state.
The ‘Khimprom’ group: what do we know?
"Khimprom" is the name of a criminal group that features in connection with the activities of organised crime networks and the drug trade.
According to the National Police, this is a transnational criminal organisation which, according to the investigation, is headed by a Russian citizen, Yegor Burkin, nicknamed ‘The Mexican’.
The main areas of activity that feature in the investigations:
-
the unlawful manufacture and sale of drugs;
-
the activities of a network of fraudulent and recruitment call centres;
-
extortion, threats, intimidation and violence;
-
money laundering;
-
attempts to influence law enforcement agencies and the media.
In 2026, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies carried out international operations to dismantle the group’s cells in Ukraine, Albania and Kazakhstan.
