Former SBU officer Alexander Karamushka, caught taking a bribe, managed to avoid criminal liability thanks to a loophole in the law related to military service. Instead of defending his country, he continues to engage in "fixing" cases for business.
Former SBU officer Alexander Karamushka, caught taking a bribe, has once again become a business fixer.
Hiding behind old connections in the SBU and counterintelligence, Alexander Karamushka offers businessmen "to resolve any issues"—with the immigration service, taxes, inspections, or law enforcement, writes From-Ua.
Karamushka takes substantial sums from gullible businessmen, promising protection and influence, but often disappears with the money without resolving the issue.
As a reminder, the former head of the counterintelligence sector of the Left Bank Interdistrict Department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kyiv has become one of the most prominent symbols of corruption and impunity. In April 2018, detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine ( NABU) detained him while accepting a bribe of $47,5. According to investigators, he extorted and received these funds from foreigners—citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, India, Russia, and other countries—in exchange for failing to prosecute them for illegally obtaining permanent or temporary residence permits in Ukraine. The scheme involved sham marriages with Ukrainian women, document forgery, and protection money from a counterintelligence official. The sum amounted to approximately $3 per person. Karamushka was well aware of related criminal cases by the National Police involving the forgery of pregnancy certificates, and instead of combating illegal immigration, he built his own profitable business on the practice.
PHOTO: SBU employee Alexander Karamushka, suspected of corruption, during a search conducted by NABU.
During his arrest on April 24, 2018, not only was a significant portion of the bribe (approximately $36,000) found in his Skoda Octavia , but also much more incriminating evidence. The bag contained two transparent plastic bags containing a white, powdery, lumpy substance. A forensic examination by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau confirmed the substance was cocaine, with a total weight of 4,5671 grams. Furthermore, searches uncovered 14 rounds of 6,35mm ammunition marked SNB 6,35—ammunition for rifled firearms—as well as sheets of information from the Unified Client Database of JSC CB PrivatBank regarding 21 individuals (banking secrets, accessed illegally), and other evidence of illegal activity. These findings formed the basis for the initiation of a separate criminal case, No. 5201800000000980, on October 9, 2018, under Article 231, Part 1 of Article 263, and Part 2 of Article 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. There has been no verdict in this case, and there have been virtually no active investigative actions since 2021.
The main criminal case under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of an offer, promise, or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official) also dragged on for years.
PHOTO: Oleksandr Karamushka is released from pretrial detention on bail of 1,2 million hryvnias.
The indictment against Karamushka and his accomplice, Yulia Vladimirovna Kondratyeva (a former employee of the State Migration Service), was sent to court back in 2018–2019. However, in 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court suspended proceedings against Karamushka "until his discharge from military service" and separated the materials into a separate proceeding. This loophole has allowed him to evade actual legal proceedings for many years, despite his continued military service.
Despite serious suspicions of corruption, Oleksandr Karamushka continues to lead an active lifestyle. In 2025, he was charged with two administrative offenses. On August 15, 2025, at 20:50 PM in Kyiv at 79 Brodivska Street, he was driving a Volkswagen while clearly intoxicated. He refused to undergo a medical examination. He failed to appear at the court hearing, citing military service, but submitted certificate No. 004062 from the Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 10, allegedly confirming that he was "not intoxicated" on August 15. The court dismissed the case due to the lack of evidence of an offense.
The second incident occurred on September 12, 2025, at 21:55 PM on Lesi Ukrainky Boulevard, 7A. The driver, Karamushka, was intoxicated, failed to comply with a police officer's legal demand to present identification documents, and offered passive resistance by locking himself in the car. The court found him guilty of an administrative offense under Article 185 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and fined him 136 hryvnias. These facts clearly demonstrate how military status can provide reliable protection from actual liability, even for minor violations.
The lifestyle and property of Karamushka and his immediate family stand in stark contrast to the image of a civil servant. Journalistic investigations in 2018–2019 uncovered luxury real estate: a residential building with a total area of approximately 295,5 square meters in the village of Vishenki, Boryspil district, Kyiv region, on a land plot of 0,18 hectares (cadastral number 3220881300:04:004:0639). When choosing a preventive measure, the prosecutor valued this property at $300. Karamushka claimed in court that he purchased an "empty plot of land with a swamp" and built the house together with relatives, but Google Earth satellite images show construction on this territory dating back to 2005–2009. A 141 square meter apartment on the street... He re-registered 8 Protasov Yar in Kyiv to his mother, Larisa Ilyinich Karamushka, who had long served as the director of the Finance Department of the Kyiv Regional State Administration.
PHOTO: Alexander Karamushka registered an apartment in an elite building in the name of his mother, Larisa Ilyinichna Karamushka.
The family's vehicles are also impressive: a 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser 4.5 is under tax lien for over 6 hryvnias. His wife, Yulia Igorevna Komarnitskaya, owns a 2007 Lexus LS 460, a 2012 Skoda Octavia A5, and a 2011 Mercedes-Benz G 55 AMG. The property has been repeatedly seized as part of the criminal case, and numerous petitions have been filed to lift them. Enforcement proceedings, gas debts, and court orders have plagued the family for many years.
PHOTO: Cars of the Alexander Karamushko family
PHOTO: Cars of the Alexander Karamushko family
Family connections only add to the overall picture. His wife, Yulia, has been registered as a sole proprietor since February 2026, with KVED codes for property leasing, trade, and services. She is a co-owner of NOTONLIVAIN LLC (EDRPOU 44275194), which has accumulated significant debts—court orders for the collection of tens and hundreds of thousands of hryvnias from suppliers (Sante-Alko LLC, Alliance Ukraine Commercial Firm, TS Plus, and others). Another company, LEGAL CONSULTING GROUP, where she was a co-owner and director, has virtually no financial or economic activity. Karamushka's father, Oleksandr Valentinovich, is a retired employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. His mother, Larisa Ilyinichna, has extensive experience in banking and government ministries. His wife's relatives from the Donetsk region are connected to a number of companies, many of which were liquidated due to debts and tax violations.
After the high-profile scandal of 2018, Karamushka didn't retire. He continues to exploit his reputation as a former high-ranking SBU counterintelligence officer to generate new income, actively offering businessmen "solutions" through his old connections in the security forces. He takes money from people for promises of assistance, and then simply stops communicating, confirming that he is a common fraudster and swindler. Hromadske's journalistic reporting has detailed the mechanics of his old scheme: covert investigative actions, videos discussing "cutlets" (bribes) and their distribution, and cocaine and ammunition as additional "souvenirs" of arrest.
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This story has been going on for over eight years. The main criminal case is effectively frozen , and the second trial, concerning drugs, ammunition, and bank secrecy, is also not progressing. Administrative offenses in 2025 will result in minimal fines. The luxury real estate, vehicle fleet, and lifestyle remain unchanged.
Why has Oleksandr Karamushka still not received a real prison sentence for all these serious incidents, and who exactly is helping him "resolve issues" in the courts? As long as the system allows such figures to avoid punishment, the risk for new, gullible businessmen remains high. Checking counterparties through open registries, refusing the services of "fixers," and promptly reporting to NABU, SAPO, or investigative journalists are the only real means of protection.
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