[67997] Corruption scandal in Ukraine: Senior police officers arrested for 'protection' of porn studios

A sprawling corruption scandal at the top of the National Police of Ukraine

A large-scale enforcement operation, led by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor General's Office, has led to the exposure of a serious corruption network in three regions: Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr. According to reports by SBUkr, senior police officers are suspected of providing protection to "porn studios" – locations where illegal sexual content was produced and distributed – in exchange for monthly bribes of $20,000 per region.

Investigation details and suspects

According to Реальна Війна, the central mediator was the driver of one of the Deputy Ministers of Internal Affairs, who was arrested while receiving a transfer of $25,000. Among those arrested, as detailed by ГОНЧАРЕНКО, are:

• Head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Police, Serhiy Bezpalko, and his deputy, Volodymyr Yatsyuk.


• First Deputy Head of the Ternopil Regional Police, Andriy Tkachyk.


• Deputy Head of the Zhytomyr Regional Police, Ilya Golovaty.

Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, cited by Всевидящее ОКО, confirmed that during the searches, assets worth a total of over 22.6 million hryvnias were seized, including six luxury vehicles, Swiss watches, and large amounts of cash.

Reports on the resignation of the Chief of Police

Throughout the day, information was circulated among many Telegram channels, including Times of Ukraine and Київ ІНФО, suggesting that the head of the National Police, Ivan Vyhivskyi, had submitted his resignation. However, law enforcement authorities, including Оперативний ЗСУ and police spokeswoman Yulia Girdvilis (in a report on СУСПІЛЬНЕ НОВИНИ), officially denied the news and noted that Vyhivskyi is continuing in his position.

Various sources, including LIGA.net and Українська правда, emphasized that the operation highlights the determination of law enforcement agencies to clean up the ranks of the police, despite the sensitivity of the positions held by those involved.