NABU Searches Home of Kyiv Oblast Police Chief Amid Carthage Operation

Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies moved against high-ranking police officials on Wednesday as part of a coordinated investigation known as Operation Carthage. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office conducted searches targeting Andrii Rubel, the head of the National Police's main directorate in Kyiv Oblast. Rubel is also identified as a close associate of Oleh Tatarov, the deputy head of the Office of the President.

Rubel was not detained during the search, according to a source cited by the newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. Investigators were likely focusing on Rubel's tenure as head of the National Police's Department of Strategic Investigations, a role he held from October 2022 until the end of April 2026. Before that post, Rubel served as head of the police main directorate in Kharkiv Oblast from 2020 to 2021. His career also includes roles in the Kyiv city and oblast police, as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs' units for combating organized crime and strategic investigations.

The probe has drawn attention to financial declarations and asset histories. In 2019, Rubel participated in a competition for the head of the State Bureau of Investigation's internal control department but failed the legislative knowledge test, answering fewer than half of the questions correctly. His asset declaration lists a 171-square-meter apartment in Kyiv purchased in 2018 for 3.9 million hryvnia, roughly 85,700 US dollars at the time. Journalists from Bihus.Info found that the apartment's market value was higher than the declared price. The majority of the purchase cost, about 120,000 US dollars, was gifted to Rubel by his father, Mykola Rubel, a former law enforcement officer, shortly before the transaction.

Mykola Rubel's official income over a 20-year career totaled approximately 82,000 US dollars. He also purchased two Audi vehicles, which he transferred to his son for use. Investigators and journalists also examined the assets of Rubel's mother-in-law. She owns a Honda CR-V, a Porsche Cayenne, a house in the village of Vita-Poshtova near Kyiv, and 0.43 acres of land in a Carpathian resort zone. Media reports indicate that the owners of adjacent land plots are relatives of Rubel's colleagues from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Carthage operation has resulted in other high-profile detentions. Volodymyr Tsenov, the first deputy head of the National Police's Strategic Investigations Department, was detained following new evidence in the case. Wiretaps referred to Tsenov as "Price." Earlier in the same operation, NABU searched the home of Anton Kravchuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine's Main Department of Internal Security, on November 4. During that search, General Serhii Duka, the first deputy head of the SSU's Department for the Protection of National Statehood, threatened to use firearms and denied detectives access to the location. NABU officers later detained Duka.

The investigation also revealed a planned attack on investigative journalist Denys Bihus. Members of the criminal organization exposed in Operation Carthage had plotted a violent assault against Bihus in response to his Bihus.Info investigation into U420, a retail chain that sold narcotics. The operation continues to expand, targeting officials within both the police and security services.