NABU’s effective communication with the public and international partners helps expose corruption and oppose the aggressor

Since the start of its work in 2015, the National Bureau has demonstrated a qualitatively different approach to interaction with society, practicing openness, transparency, and cooperation. In 7 years, NABU has formed a network of ambassadors of anti-corruption reform both inside the country and abroad. With the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, this resource was used to counter the aggressor

In March, as part of the investigation of war crimes under the procedural leadership of the Prosecutor General’s Office, NABU launched a hotline for reports by the witnesses of russian crimes in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. In June, at the initiative of the Public Appeals Department (PAD), the Bureau joined in cooperation with the Ukrainian National Center for Peacebuilding, which performs the functions of the National Information Bureau under the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, 1949. A memorandum was signed on June 27, and the Bureau’s staff got down to work the next day. Using NABU’s technical capabilities, PAD employees have been receiving reports on Ukrainian POWs, dead and missing persons, those illegally detained by the occupiers, including among the civilian population. The received information is forwarded to the National Information Bureau for generalization, analysis, and systematization. Every week, more than 1,200 such reports are processed on average.

The Detectives of the National Bureau voluntarily shared their experience of open source intelligence, the interaction of the prosecutor with the investigator, working with electronic evidence, as well as the status of POWs. During the first half of 2022, four of them gave six lectures for the trainees of the Prosecutor’s Training Center of Ukraine. NABU employees also took part in the development of a number of practical instructions and guidelines for prosecutors.

Due to the specificity of the crimes under NABU’s investigation, the Bureau has effectively established communication with competent authorities, government structures of other states, and international agencies that have shown solidarity with the people of Ukraine in countering russian aggression.

Colleagues from the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau of Poland, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau of Latvia, the Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania, the Estonian Internal Security Service, the General Inspectorate of Security Forces of the Czech Republic and the General Anti-Corruption Directorate within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Romania facilitated the search for the assets of occupiers abroad, arranged the supply of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and provided shelter to the families of NABU staff.

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The National Bureau was also backed by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Government, which provided the agency with PC workstations, monitors, laptops and software, thermal monoculars, helmet mount kits, radios, clothing, armor plates and plate carriers, etc.

Thanks to the support of the EU Anti-corruption Initiative, information about the war in Ukraine was spread among leading lawyers at the World Justice Forum in The Hague, the Netherlands. The international event that brings together representatives from 116 countries and international organizations. Bureau’s participation in the event was due to a special award for the All-Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Moot Court project, launched with the support of NABU and the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative. The Ukrainian stand at the Forum became one of the most visited.