Stefanyishyna has been named a suspect by NABU and the SAP: What is known

This information comes from the Central Anti-Corruption Court.

The High Anti-Corruption Court is currently determining her pretrial detention measure.

At the beginning of the hearing, the defense requested that the proceedings be closed to the public. Details of the allegations are not being disclosed at this time.

Stefanishyna had previously been notified of charges in a NABU case involving Viktor Yanukovych’s associate Olena Lukash. The case is being heard by the High Anti-Corruption Court.

In that case, Lukash and other suspects are accused of embezzling 2,523,000 hryvnias allocated in 2013–2014 to bring Ukrainian legislation into line with EU law.

Additionally, journalists from “Ukrainska Pravda” previously published an investigation revealing that individuals from Stefanišina’s inner circle were granted control, through ARMA, over four large real estate properties, including the Trade Union Building on Independence Square. The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) has opened a criminal investigation to examine the former official’s possible involvement in corruption at ARMA.

The Center for Political and Legal Analysis also reports that for the past 10 years, Stefanishyna has declared an apartment in Kyiv belonging to her mother, even though, according to official records, her mother did not own such an apartment. Furthermore, Stefanishyna did not disclose in her declaration her mother’s actual 150-square-meter apartment in Kyiv or the new apartment she acquired in 2022. 

As a reminder, Olga Stefanishyna had previously requested to be relieved of her duties as Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. At the time, it was reported that she did so for personal reasons. Stefanishyna explained: “This is my own decision.”

On August 3, a decree by Volodymyr Zelenskyy was published dismissing Olga Stefanishyna from her post as ambassador to the U.S. Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi confirmed in an interview with “Shelter” that discussions were underway regarding the replacement of Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S.

Earlier, People’s Deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko stated that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine might announce that it had placed Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S., Olga Stefanishyna, under suspicion.