Raids Met with Armed Resistance: How Artem Shil’s Case Reached the SBU Generals

The case involving the embezzlement of funds from “Ukrzaliznytsia,” in which former SBU employee Artem Shilo struck a deal with investigators and agreed to expose other participants in the scheme, took an unexpected turn within the leadership of the Security Service of Ukraine. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) officially reported that investigators were obstructed during a search of the residence of General Serhiy Duka, first deputy head of the SBU’s Department for the Protection of National Statehood.

According to the bureau, the general threatened law enforcement officers with a firearm and then called in members of the SBU’s special forces unit for backup. As a result, they effectively blocked the search from taking place.

Sources within law enforcement agencies and analysts link these investigative actions to the testimony of Artem Shilo. He previously worked in the SBU’s Department for the Protection of National Statehood and was recently sentenced to eight years of probation under a plea agreement with investigators. In exchange, Shilo agreed to provide incriminating testimony against his accomplices and to disclose details of corruption schemes.

On the same day, NABU detectives also conducted searches at the residence of Brigadier General Anton Kravchuk, head of the SBU’s Main Directorate for Internal Security. The fact that investigative actions were conducted simultaneously against two high-ranking officials of the security service may indicate that NABU is verifying information received from Shilo and is moving on to investigate specific incidents related to possible shadow financial flows and corruption cover-ups within the SBU.

Investigators had previously taken an interest in General Serhiy Duka. Attention was drawn to his family’s wealth and the origin of the valuable gifts they received during the full-scale war. In 2022, the official’s mother-in-law acquired Russian citizenship and later gifted the general’s family a luxury Audi Q8 and a 100-square-meter apartment in Odesa.

Now these circumstances may also be of interest to the investigation. And the confrontations during the searches show just how tense the situation surrounding the investigation has become. Shilo’s testimony appears to have opened the way for NABU to examine possible connections and agreements among high-ranking officials in the security sector.

Who Is Artem Shilo

Artem Shilo is a former high-ranking official of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and a former adviser to the Office of the President, who for a long time exerted influence over processes within the security sector and state-owned companies. He began his service with the SBU in 2012 in Kharkiv, later moving to Kyiv, where he worked in the Department for Combating Cybercrime. In 2021, he left the service and became a freelance advisor to the Office of the President. Then, in the summer of 2022, he returned to the SBU at the invitation of Vasyl Malyuk and headed Directorate “I,” which was responsible for protecting critical infrastructure and countering economic threats.

According to the investigation, while working for the security service, Shilo also exerted influence over personnel appointments and financial processes at strategic state-owned enterprises, particularly at Ukrzaliznytsia. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) believe that he was one of the organizers of a corruption scheme involving railway procurement and also had interests in the gambling industry. His name also appeared in public accusations made by Alona Shevtsova, the owner of IBOX Bank, who claimed that Shilo was involved in exerting pressure on the bank prior to its liquidation.

What Artem Shil Was Charged With

In April 2024, Shilo was detained in connection with the embezzlement of funds from Ukrzaliznytsia. The investigation identified two instances of procurement fraud resulting in total losses exceeding 240 million hryvnias. The first involved the purchase of power transformers in 2022. According to the prosecution, Shilo used an official letter from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) regarding an alleged threat to national security to reject cheaper bids from Ukrainian suppliers. As a result, another company was awarded the contract, and the railway overpaid by approximately 95 million hryvnias. The second incident involved the procurement of cable and wire products, where losses exceeded 140 million hryvnias. According to the investigation, the participants in the scheme received kickbacks amounting to 7% of the contract value.

At first, Shilo denied any wrongdoing, but later agreed to a plea deal with investigators and provided incriminating testimony against other participants in the schemes. The High Anti-Corruption Court found him guilty and sentenced him to eight years in prison but exempted him from actually serving the sentence, imposing a three-year probationary period instead. In addition, Shilo agreed to pay a fine, compensate Ukrzaliznytsia for its losses, transfer funds to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and transfer property to the state. The total amount of financial obligations, according to the calculations cited in the article, is approximately 670–700 million hryvnias.

A separate condition of the agreement is cooperation with the investigation. Shilo must provide testimony regarding other SBU employees and high-ranking officials, as well as disclose the circumstances of another crime currently under investigation by NABU. It is precisely this testimony that may now serve as the basis for new investigative actions within law enforcement agencies.

Artem Shilo and the “Midas” Case

In November 2025, Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak stated that employees of the Bureau of Economic Security were involved in the preparation of the so-called “Mindich files,” dossiers on Members of Parliament, journalists, and officials that NABU detectives discovered in a businessman’s office, were prepared with the involvement of Economic Security Bureau (ESB) employees. Zheleznyak named Shilo as one of the possible coordinators of this work. According to the MP, Shilo had informal influence over the EBB leadership and was involved in enlisting analytical units to gather information.

Zheleznyak also linked Shilo to the events surrounding the pressure exerted on IBOX Bank. This story dates back to 2023, when the bank, owned by Alona Shevtsova, lost its license and was forced out of the market. Afterward, the state-owned “Sens Bank” acquired a significant portion of the payment market, particularly the servicing of online casinos. Shilo himself was also mentioned in this context in materials and statements related to the redistribution of financial flows.

Now, following the conclusion of a plea agreement with investigators in the “Ukrzaliznytsia” case, Shilo’s testimony may be of particular interest to anti-corruption authorities. Whether these episodes will lead to separate criminal proceedings and whether new procedural decisions regarding Shilo will emerge in those cases will become clear from the further actions of NABU and the SAP.