NABU has dropped the half-million-dollar charge against Chernyshova
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) dropped one of the three counts of illicit enrichment totaling $500,000 against former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov. He was subsequently served with an amended indictment from which the relevant charge had been removed.
By court order, the pretrial investigation was extended until November 10, 2026.
According to his attorney, the criminal offense against Chernyshov was based on a single piece of evidence—audio recordings of conversations involving third parties.
“Nearly a year has passed, and as of today, the basis for the charges has not changed. Over the course of this year, the pretrial investigation authority has not obtained a single document—other than this one—in terms of gathering evidence. If the initial allegation of illicit enrichment consisted of three incidents—and during each extension of the detective’s mandate, it was emphasized that all of them were substantiated—then as of now, one of the incidents has been dropped. Apparently, this is precisely the logical explanation for why the pre-trial investigation authority has taken no action regarding the investigation of the alleged criminal offense,” Rusyn noted.
He emphasized that this concerns one of the three episodes that the investigation had previously charged Chernyshov with as part of the suspicion of illicit enrichment.
“Recently, my client received confirmation from NABU that one of the three incidents he was charged with—involving $500,000—had been dropped. In other words, NABU itself has effectively acknowledged that it wrongly accused him, as evidenced by the amended charge that was served,” Rusin stated.
According to him, during previous hearings, the defense drew the court’s attention to the fact that the investigation’s plan did not specify any concrete actions aimed at finding evidence of the alleged offense. In NABU’s current motion, Rusyn said, this situation has not changed.
“Since November 2025, the investigation has made no progress whatsoever in substantiating the announced charges,” he said.
Chernyshov’s attorney, Oleksandr Rusin, reported this to “Ukrainian News” following a hearing at the High Anti-Corruption Court, where NABU’s motion to extend the pretrial investigation period in Case No. 472, “Midas,” was considered.
The High Anti-Corruption Court allowed Chernyshov to remove his electronic ankle monitor.
The court left the procedural restrictions in place for Chernyshov’s case until June.
Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshov failed to comply with the High Anti-Corruption Court’s ruling—he did not post the 120 million hryvnia bail.
