The courtroom drama unfolding in Kyiv over the case of senior anti-corruption detective Ruslan Maghamedrasulov has gripped Ukraine’s political and civil society circles, not only because of the allegations but also because of what the trial symbolizes for the country’s fragile fight against corruption. On August 25, the Kyiv Court of Appeal postponed a hearing against Maghamedrasulov, a leading investigator with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), who stands accused of participating in an illicit hemp cultivation and smuggling scheme involving Russia. The delay, now pushing the hearing to September 9, has sparked fresh debates about judicial independence, selective prosecution, and the larger war-time pressures bearing down on Ukraine’s institutions.

At the heart of the controversy is the claim by prosecutors that Maghamedrasulov facilitated hemp sales from Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region to Russia’s Dagestan Republic. The prosecution asserts that his father maintained contacts with Russian citizens and occupation authorities in Donetsk, enabling trade in defiance of wartime bans. Cultivating technical hemp without a license is illegal in Ukraine, and commerce with Russia is outlawed under martial law.

Maghamedrasulov, detained since July, has consistently denied the charges. His lawyers argue the case rests on flimsy evidence and is being politically weaponized. Activists, too, see the prosecution as retribution for Maghamedrasulov’s past investigations into Tymur Mindich, a powerful businessman widely seen as an ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.........

© Blitz