On Friday, November 6, 2026, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine officially confirmed that searches had been conducted at the residence of one of the agency's active-duty officers. According to information obtained from sources within HUR, a lawyer arrived at the scene of the investigative actions, and the agency stated its readiness to facilitate an impartial investigation in order to establish all circumstances within the framework of current legislation. The searches, conducted on the morning of the same day, were first reported by lawyer Masi Nayyem, who indicated that the investigative actions were carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) against a HUR officer, presumably in a case related to the assassination attempt on Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolayev in Monaco.
Procedural violation: absence of intelligence representatives
The central element of HUR's statement was pointing out a violation of procedural norms. An agency spokesperson referred to Part 2 of Article 35 of the Law of Ukraine "On Intelligence," according to which any investigative actions concerning an active-duty intelligence officer must be conducted with the knowledge and exclusively in the presence of authorized representatives of the intelligence agency. HUR emphasized that this norm "unfortunately was not observed." Lawyer Masi Nayyem, who was present at the search site, confirmed this version: according to him, investigators did not wait for the arrival of HUR internal security representatives, whose presence is mandatory during such actions. Thus, both parties—the agency and the defense counsel—point to the same procedural defect, which gives HUR's statement additional legal significance.
Context: the Monaco assassination attempt case
The searches of the HUR officer come against the backdrop of an ongoing investigation into an incident that occurred on June 29, 2026, near the entrance to a residential building in Monaco, where Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolayev was injured in an explosion. Initially, the investigation named 39-year-old Ukrainian citizen Anastasiia Berezovska, who was wanted via Interpol, as the primary suspect in planting the explosive device. However, Berezovska's body with gunshot wounds to the head was subsequently discovered in a forest in the Kyiv region, which redirected the investigation's vector.
Detentions and court decisions
In July 2026, the National Police, the SBU, HUR, and the Prosecutor General's Office jointly announced the detention of two men on suspicion of murdering Anastasiia Berezovska. According to the investigation, the detainees could also be involved in the assassination attempt on Yermolayev. Among those detained were active HUR officer Vladyslav Reut and former SBU officer Vitaliy Zhikovych. In July, the court chose pre-trial detention without the right to bail as a preventive measure for both. Thus, the current searches of another intelligence officer expand the circle of individuals facing investigative actions in this case.
Legal consequences and next steps
HUR's statement regarding the non-compliance with Article 35 of the Intelligence Law could have significant procedural consequences. If the court establishes that the investigative actions were conducted in violation of the mandatory presence of intelligence agency representatives, the evidence obtained during the search may be declared inadmissible. At the same time, HUR is not refusing cooperation with law enforcement agencies and frames its position as a demand for compliance with legal procedure rather than a refusal to investigate. At the time of publication, no additional statements from the SBU in response to HUR's claims have been reported, nor whether the agency will challenge the search results in court.
