The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced the opening of a criminal case against the former head coach of Kyiv's Dynamo. According to Sport RBC.UA, citing an official NABU statement on Facebook, the case has been preliminarily classified under Part 4 of Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — extortion in especially large amounts committed during martial law. The statement itself does not name the suspect, but in the media space and in the comments of the parties, the discussion in fact unambiguously concerns the club legend and Kyiv City Council deputy Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
Transferred to the National Police for Investigation
A key procedural detail is that the case did not fall within the Bureau's direct jurisdiction. According to the statement, as early as August 25, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office assigned jurisdiction to the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv. This means that the further investigation will be conducted not by NABU investigators but by the capital's police, which may affect both the pace and the public visibility of the process.
The Core of the Conflict: a Shooting Range and $250,000
According to information previously reported in the media, the specialist allegedly demanded that the owner of a premises return $250,000, which, in his version, had been spent on renovating a shooting range in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv. In parallel, law enforcement are also examining a separate episode — the possible failure to declare income from advertising cooperation with a betting company. Thus, the case involves at least two blocks of claims: a property dispute and questions of income declaration.
Shovkovskyi's Own Version
Oleksandr Shovkovskyi himself categorically rejected the accusations and characterized the situation as a long-standing property conflict over the lease of a premises by the company "TAKTYKA," co-owned by his wife. "A review of the complaint does not yet make the version stated in it a proven fact. I regard this publication as an attempt to discredit me as a public figure and a Kyiv City Council deputy and to exert pressure on the company and on the investigation through my name," he stated. In his words, this is not about extortion but about a dispute between commercial entities.
Contradictory Data
There are several notable inconsistencies here that must be reflected honestly. First, the suspect's surname is not named in the official NABU statement, whereas all contextual sources and the parties' public comments directly point to Shovkovskyi — meaning the link between the case and him is confirmed indirectly, not by a primary document. Second, the legal qualification of the event differs by version: the investigation speaks of extortion in especially large amounts, while Shovkovskyi himself insists on a civil property conflict over the lease. Finally, formally the case was opened by "NABU," but in fact it has been transferred to the National Police's jurisdiction, creating confusion over who exactly is handling the case. Until a decision is made, these versions remain mutually exclusive.
Who Is Oleksandr Shovkovskyi
To assess the resonance of the case, it is important to recall the suspect's status. Shovkovskyi is Dynamo's record holder by number of matches (637 games), won the Ukrainian championship 14 times as part of the Kyiv team, and reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup with the national team. In his coaching career, he served as an assistant in the Ukrainian national team's staff from 2018 to 2022, and from December 2023 to November 2025 he headed Dynamo. It is precisely the combination of sporting authority, a parliamentary mandate, and commercial activity that makes this case especially prominent for the media and for fans.
