Activist Shabunin may soon be charged with evasion from army - media

In the near future, the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC), Vitalii Shabunin, may be charged with suspicion in a case of fictitious military service. This is reported by the Fakty [Facts] publication, noting that a step towards this is the ruling of the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv dated April 24, 2025.

The ruling, in particular, describes in detail how Shabunin evaded his duties for a long time, avoided being in combat zones, and instead of serving in the army, he stayed in Kyiv restaurants.

In particular, how from September 2022 to February 2023, Shabunin provided the commander of the military unit with letters from the leadership of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) every month with a request to send him to Kyiv.

"Taking advantage of the above, the latter... did not come under the subordination of any structural unit of the NACP, in connection with which he did not perform any official tasks in accordance with the NACP's powers, but was engaged in personal affairs," the court's ruling states.

At the same time, Shabunin did not inform the commander that he did not perform any functions and tasks in the NACP. And the latter, despite the activist's absence from service, signed payment statements when paying him monetary support, which caused losses to the state budget of more than UAH 224,000.

The commander also groundlessly issued orders to send the activist to humanitarian centers in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv. Although there is no information about receiving humanitarian aid.

By this ruling, the court granted the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) permission to obtain information about Shabunin's whereabouts, starting from February 25, 2022, using mobile terminals.

Recall, the SBI suspects the battalion commander of the Kyiv Territorial Defense, where Shabunin fictitiously served and received "combat" pay, of abuse of office. In February, the commander was served with suspicion.

The SBI is investigating a number of criminal cases against Shabunin: in particular, about evading mobilization, forging NACP documents, illegal use of humanitarian aid and appropriation of a Nissan Pathfinder jeep.