Leadership of regional police units in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Zhytomyr regions detained for covering explicit content scheme
The Office of the Prosecutor General, with operational support from the SBU, has exposed a corruption scheme in the National Police, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said.
"A large-scale operation to purge the National Police system of corruption: a scheme to cover ‘porn offices’ in three regions has been exposed," the prosecutor general wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.
He said: "According to the investigation, the leadership of territorial police units in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Zhytomyr regions may have been ensuring the unobstructed operation of a network of so-called ‘porn offices’."
The Security Service of Ukraine said on its Telegram channel that those detained include: the head of the main directorate of the National Police in Ivano-Frankivsk region; the deputy head of the main directorate of the National Police in Ivano-Frankivsk region; the first deputy head of the main directorate of the National Police in Ternopil region; the deputy head of the main directorate of the National Police in Zhytomyr region; and a driver of the MIA unit service center who acted as an intermediary courier.
"The Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General, with the assistance of the Interior Minister and the National Police Internal Security Department, exposed officials of regional police directorates in illegal schemes," the SBU said.
According to the case materials, the suspects were engaged in covering the activities of models on explicit content internet platforms. "For various sums of unlawful benefit, the officials guaranteed their ‘clients’ immunity from prosecution for unlawful content," the SBU specified.
During searches, evidence of illegal activity and funds allegedly obtained through criminal means were seized.
The suspects have been served notices of suspicion under article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of unlawful benefit by an official).
According to the prosecutor general, the premises in question were used to illegally create, produce and distribute erotic and pornographic video content online.
"According to our data, the intermediary in the scheme was a driver of one of the deputy interior ministers of Ukraine. Using connections among National Police leadership, he negotiated with officials to ensure non-interference in the operation of such ‘porn offices’," Kravchenko said.
He noted that in exchange for a monthly unlawful payment, the police chiefs were to take no response measures, not document violations, not halt the illegal activity and give advance warning of possible inspections.
"The monthly ‘subscription fee’ was $20,000 for regional police unit leadership. The intermediary received an additional $5,000. To conceal the scheme, its participants used code words, communicated via messengers and discussed the details of arrangements privately," the prosecutor general stressed.
Several episodes of fund transfers were documented during the investigation.
According to Kravchenko, in February 2026 the intermediary received $45,000, part of which was intended for police leadership in one of the regions and part for the intermediary himself.
"In April 2026, he received another $25,000: $20,000 was to be transferred to one of the deputy heads of a regional police directorate and $5,000 was kept by the intermediary. A transfer of $20,000 to a police official in another region through a close associate of his, who was unaware of the criminal intent, was also documented. A further transfer of $20,000 to the same official was subsequently recorded. Today, the intermediary was detained after receiving another tranche of $25,000. In this episode, $20,000 was also intended for one of the regional police chiefs and $5,000 for him," the prosecutor general specified.
He noted that the operation was carried out with the assistance of the interior minister of Ukraine and the National Police Internal Security Bureau.
