Former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko may have been helped to settle in Vienna by Ukrainian businessman and figure in two NABU cases Volodymyr Galanternyk. It was his driver, reportedly, who gave testimony against UP journalists Mykhailo Tkach and Yaroslav Bondarenko, after which they were detained while carrying out an editorial assignment in Austria.
In UP’s investigation into the reasons for the film crew’s detention, the journalists examined case materials and spoke with sources in business and anti-corruption circles. They gained access to the Austrian law enforcement investigation materials because, due to the detention, they themselves became a party to the case.
Sources also believe that Galanternyk may have been involved in last year’s attempt to bring independent anti-corruption bodies under the authority of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
“UP’s sources in the anti-corruption agencies do not rule out that Galanternyk may have been one of the non-public organisers of the attack on NABU and SAPO in July last year,” Tkach said.
The journalists traced the chain of events that led to their detention by Austrian law enforcement. It emerged that the reports may have been made by members of Galanternyk’s staff — his driver and the assistant head of personnel.
Austria’s State Security Service provided protection from 14 to 18 September to a Ukrainian citizen who said he was in danger. This person claimed to have seen Viktor Torkotiuk, head of the “Artan” group of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, at the Park Hyatt Vienna hotel. Law enforcement did indeed find Torkotiuk at the hotel and confirmed his identity. He said he was in Vienna as a tourist. Then Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko left the country on 14 September, while UP’s film crew was in Kyiv that day.
The reason for the journalists’ detention in Austria was testimony alleging that Tkach and Bondarenko had supposedly been watching someone together with two other Ukrainian citizens. Those citizens were detained on suspicion of espionage and are servicemen of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
The Austrian intelligence service reported that UP cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko, who was later detained together with Tkach, used the same car for surveillance jointly with two Defence Intelligence servicemen. Tkach noted that his colleague does not know these servicemen and did not share a car with them.
The Austrian intelligence report also claimed that Bondarenko and one of the Defence Intelligence servicemen had hired a car. However, the photo attached to the document shows not Bondarenko but Tkach. Austrian law enforcement later acknowledged the mistake, but only on 13 October. They also acknowledged that there was no connection between Bondarenko and Defence Intelligence staff. In their statements to law enforcement, the servicemen said they were in Austria as tourists. They had their military IDs and other required documents with them.
According to the investigation materials, the intelligence officers arrived in Austria on 12 September — two days before Kravchenko’s arrival. One day they ended up at the address that later attracted the attention of UP’s film crew. Tkach suggests that this is what caused his and Bondarenko’s detention.
According to UP, at some point both Defence Intelligence representatives realised they were being followed, but they were instructed to continue.
Context
On 5 September, NABU and SAPO uncovered a criminal organisation operating within the Prosecutor General’s Office that was covering up illegal call centres in exchange for bribes. The main suspect in the case, dubbed “Carthage”, is Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of one of the departments. He is currently in custody along with other suspects.
On 14 September, Kravchenko unexpectedly announced that he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos. It later emerged that he reported this only after leaving Ukraine on a “business trip” to Paris. Instead of Paris, the former official ultimately ended up in Austria — a country from which extradition to Ukraine is difficult.
Only after his departure did the President suspend him, and the Verkhovna Rada backed his full dismissal. The Prosecutor General’s Office is conducting an internal inquiry into the circumstances of his departure.
Soon after leaving, Kravchenko began making accusatory statements against the anti-corruption agencies and the President.
UP journalists reported that Kravchenko was in Austria. On 9 October, Austrian law enforcement detained UP’s Mykhailo Tkach and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko. Their phones were taken and they were held for more than half a day; force was used against Bondarenko.
The Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office said that the arrest of Ukrainian journalist Mykhailo Tkach in Austria was not due to his profession, but because he was seen at a location that was also being watched by two men suspected of espionage.
In total, four Ukrainians were detained. The journalists were released, while the other two citizens — as of the news publication on 13 October — were not. Austrian law enforcement did not specify who exactly had been detained.
On 28 October Ruslan Kravchenko made his first public post after a month of silence, in which he accused NABU and SAPO of organising a group that allegedly intended to carry out violent actions against him. The Bureau rejected these accusations and called them an attempt to secure protection for Kravchenko in the country where he is staying.