“Carthage must be destroyed.” That’s how the Roman senator Cato ended every speech two thousand years ago. Today I say the same: the mafia Carthage must be destroyed.
The country has found itself between two strikes. Russia is attacking energy and cities, millions of people are again counting the hours without light. And for the third day, we have been listening to NABU tapes in the “Carthage” case, which chills the blood no less than explosions.
“Hammers or acid.” That’s how, according to the investigation, they discussed dealing with the entrepreneur who defended Mariupol, went through Russian captivity, and dared to speak out against their business. In the middle of Kyiv, they break his bones with a pipe. And the leader of the group, associated with “Khimprom”, talks in recordings about cooperation with FSB officers. In the fifth year of the war.
This is no longer corruption. This is the mafia. Corruption steals; the mafia kills, intimidates, and puts those who should stop it into its service.
SBU has combat units we are proud of. The police have honest officers who, despite threats, closed these points. But those who covered the syndicate were not the SBU or the police. They are mafiosi and murderers, no matter what chevrons they hide behind.
The country must now get answers to these questions:
- How did call centers, drug trafficking, and shadow schemes operate for years under the authority’s watch? Why did the syndicate know about searches in advance and monitor people through state databases and “Safe City” cameras?
- Why are law enforcers directed not at the enemy but at journalists, activists, the opposition, and Telegram channels?
- Why do the top officials of the state remain silent, and why did the telethon and major channels “not notice” this story?
This is a story about a power model where law enforcers are appointed based on loyalty, not through competition. The Prosecutor General resigned after the scheme, according to the investigation, was exposed in his own Office. Now the prosecutor’s office is headed by an acting officer appointed without any competition.
NABU and SAP have worked — institutions that our team created after the Revolution of Dignity together with civil society. The principle is simple: those who investigate should not depend on those they investigate.
I just returned from Brussels. There, they made it clear: there will be no compromises on the renewal of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the SBU, and the State Bureau of Investigation. If the government plays tricks, euro integration will be halted, and Ukraine will be detached from the Moldovan locomotive. This is water on Russia’s mill.
Therefore, next week, European Solidarity will submit a package of changes to the Rada:
1. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) — a new director through a competition with decisive votes from international experts, re-evaluation of leadership, and independent audit.
2. Prosecutor General — open competition, clear term of office, and no indefinite “acting” positions.
3. Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) — counterintelligence, fight against terrorism, and state secrets. Remove economic and corruption cases. Real parliamentary control.
4. Protection of people — audit of access to state databases and cameras: who, when, and why accessed them. State protection for journalists, activists, and veterans who are threatened.
5. Temporary Special Commission (TSC) for the “Carthage” case — heads of law enforcement agencies must publicly respond in the session hall.
The enemy strikes at energy from outside. We must not allow trust in the state to be destroyed from within by those who should protect it. Ukraine deserves justice. And change.
Watched the new NABU video “Carthage” twice.
Honestly, I understand that the country simply hasn’t been able to comprehend what happened yet.
Yes, it was known within narrow circles that such a system exists. But how rotten it all is looks terrifying.
National Police. SBU. Civil servants. Judges. Ministers. Drug trafficking, call centers, counterfeit money printing, racketeering, cover-ups, millions earned on crime while the country is bleeding, and earnings with a drug syndicate connected to the FSB. It’s particularly interesting now to ask Budzhansky’s committee and Budzhansky himself, who opposed exposing this scheme.
Just a mess.
If not for the war, there would have been very dramatic events these days. People would have gathered near the Verkhovna Rada and services, those who fought and lost loved ones while these scoundrels were earning with the drug syndicate.
Many. With cardboard signs, posters, and flares.
And then someone would have shouted, “Down with the gang!”. And it would have started.
But it can’t happen now, there’s a war.
What has been exposed is a disaster. God forbid the authorities allow anyone, like Kravchenko, to flee abroad. These are prepared FSB agents who had access to sensitive secret information. I hope law enforcement will do everything right.
But it’s a disaster. No words.
The NABU investigation is absolute chthonic horror.
With every minute of watching, it literally takes your speech away with the cynicism, cruelty, impunity, and omnipotence of the mafia that has firmly intertwined with the rear SBU and National Police.
Bribery of everyone, public beating of people with hammers so “legs are like rags,” security service IDs with downright thugs, cover-ups from TCC, “putting honest law enforcement in their place,” personal online access to the “Safe City” system with all the movements of victims in the hands of criminals, and everything else.
Once I watched a movie about the Italian mafia and the state’s attempt to overcome it. How honest judges, prosecutors, and journalists were killed there.
Now I’m shuddering at the thought of how deep we are in it, where any decent minister or official, journalist or activist is doomed to be beaten with hammers in case of “inability to negotiate,” because their attempt to turn to law enforcement at the highest level for protection will only lead to the clarification of their location and the increase in the weight of hammers or the use of acid.
Because the very highest level of the law enforcement system is criminal.
Watch it, you won’t regret it.
It starts boring – drug stalls, counterfeit money, but then you quietly become stunned.
I am once again thankful that a year ago society defended the independence of NABU and SAP. It’s scary to imagine what would have happened if NABU officers had been subordinated to the SBU.
(In my opinion, all the little deputies who voted for the actual liquidation of NABU and SAP also need to go to the detention center for a check, to understand why they voted that way. I am sure, everything in its time).
The most terrifying thing is that the guys just live their awesome life, robbing and raping the country, collaborating with the FSB (!!! with the FSB!!!) while many people are closing our land from the Russians with their lives.
God, and the courts…
There’s nowhere to brand.
I believe we will manage, just like many other countries have managed out of this horror.
Thank you, NABU and SAP. Keep up the work. Everyone, one by one.
Everyone involved must be punished.
Very good that this came to light.
Very good.
Because while it was quiet, people were just being beaten with hammers.
Now we have a chance for justice.
Switch it on.
P. S. I will write separately about this amusing “Safe City” system, which in fact made the city dangerous for victims.
A real story.
A friend of mine’s wife’s parked car was hit by an SUV with foreign plates. And it fled the scene.
My friend contacted the National Police, there was an investigation, all the procedures. They reviewed the “Safe City” recordings.
And, surprise, the moment of the collision wasn’t on the tape. A technical glitch. A damn technical glitch. At the moment of the violation.
My friend fought for a long time, but ultimately had to repair the car at his own expense.
Do I need to explain his attitude towards the law enforcement system and these ubiquitous cameras?
And this is not the only or the first story like this in Kyiv.
It seems to me that this whole “safe charade” needs to be overhauled. Because who knows who they are currently sharing images of military routes, special service employees, and so on with.
The first part of the video, published 2 months ago:
