Anti-corruption activist Vitaliy Shabunin stated that the SBI and the Prosecutor General’s Office “leaked” his intimate photos from his phone, which was seized during a search

Vitaliy Shabunin, Head of the Board of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) and a serviceman, in a comment to the ZMINA news outlet, stated that the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), jointly with the Office of the Prosecutor General, “leaked” his intimate photos to Telegram channels.

Vitaliy Shabunin

According to Shabunin, in the evening, the AntAC team sent him a link to a message containing his intimate photos.

“The State Bureau of Investigation and Office of the Prosecutor General have committed yet another crime, even if it were a regular photo and not a ‘nude’ from a seized phone. We will ensure they are held accountable for this crime. But right now, [President of Ukraine Volodymyr] Zelenskyy bears full political responsibility for their actions, as he personally protects both the Prosecutor General and the Director of the SBI in their positions. Therefore, the President shares their approaches, including the one described above,” Vitaliy Shabunin told ZMINA.

The activist also added that his wife reacted to the photo with humor, as it was intended for her.

“If people in long-distance relationships don’t send each other nudes, their relationship has problems. Currently, the majority of military personnel are in long-distance relationships,” the activist said.

The activist is convinced that this “leak” is a retaliation by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Prosecutor General to the Anti-Corruption Action Center’s publication titled “By Whose Hands Are NABU and SAPO Being Destroyed?”, in which his team released a list of security officials who, according to him, were dismantling NABU and SAPO.

You may also want to read: Systemic pressure on the anti-corruption ecosystem: challenges facing NABU, activists, and the media in 2025

Earlier, the Pechersk Court granted the motion to recuse Judge Konstantinova in the case of activist Vitaliy Shabunin.