The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) sentenced former First Deputy Head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine Dina Pimakhova to nine years in prison for taking bribes to arrange documents for foreigners. UNN reports this, citing the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
Details
On Monday, November 2, a panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court announced a guilty verdict against former First Deputy Head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine Dina Pimakhova. The court found her guilty of criminal offenses under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, concerning soliciting and receiving an undue advantage on an especially large scale.
In addition to her main punishment, Pimakhova was also barred for three years from holding positions specified by law involving the performance of functions of the state and local self-government, with the exception of elected positions.
What the former SMS official was tried for
According to the investigation, the corruption episodes that formed the basis for the criminal prosecution of Pimakhova took place in 2017, when she was serving as First Deputy Head of the State Migration Service.
In particular, in June 2017, during a meeting with an acquaintance, the official, according to the prosecution, requested $1,800 for assisting in arranging documents for the legal stay in Ukraine of a Vietnamese citizen. The matter concerned obtaining a temporary residence permit valid for one year, with the possibility of subsequently extending it for up to three years. The investigation established that Pimakhova received the specified amount.
Later, according to law enforcement officials, she offered to arrange for an Iranian citizen to obtain Ukrainian citizenship, even though he did not have the necessary legal grounds to acquire it. For assisting with the expedited processing of citizenship, the official requested an additional $30,000.
How Ukrainian citizenship was planned to be arranged
The investigation paid particular attention to the mechanism by which the foreigner was supposed to obtain a Ukrainian passport.
According to the prosecution, Pimakhova proposed using the procedure for acquiring Ukrainian citizenship by territorial origin. To this end, it was allegedly planned to create fictitious grounds that would allow the foreigner to confirm family ties with Ukrainian citizens. In particular, the scheme involved falsifying DNA test results that were supposed to certify nonexistent family ties. These documents could subsequently be used when applying to a court to establish the legal fact of kinship.
A favorable court decision was supposed to serve as the basis for subsequently formalizing Ukrainian citizenship and obtaining an internal passport and a passport for travel abroad. However, the scheme could not be fully implemented because information about the law enforcement agencies' operational measures was disclosed.
NABU special operation and conflict with the SBU
The Pimakhova case gained wide publicity as early as the end of 2017 because of a conflict between Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. At the time, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau was conducting an undercover special operation aimed at exposing a possible corruption scheme in the State Migration Service.
According to the detectives' plan, the operational measures were intended to help identify officials involved in illegally arranging Ukrainian documents for foreigners in exchange for monetary compensation. To document possible corrupt actions, NABU used an agent who contacted Pimakhova and discussed arranging the documents.
At the same time, on September 26, 2017, the official herself approached the Security Service of Ukraine with a statement alleging that NABU representatives had provoked her into taking a bribe. At the end of November, SBU officers detained the anti-corruption bureau's agent during operational measures. After that, NABU stated that the special operation had been disrupted and accused the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office at the time of interfering in the investigation.
Instead, the State Migration Service claimed that NABU officers had attempted to provoke Pimakhova into accepting an undue advantage.
The events caused a public confrontation between law enforcement agencies and called into question the prospects for the investigation. Subsequently, the criminal proceedings concerning possible provocation of a bribe by NABU detectives were repeatedly closed due to the absence of elements of a crime. The relevant decision was finally made in April 2021. Its legality was upheld by the Appeals Chamber of the HACC.
The investigation and trial lasted for years
Following the events of 2017, the investigation concerning Pimakhova continued.
In March 2018, the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed her from the position of First Deputy Head of the State Migration Service. On December 19, 2019, NABU detectives notified the former official of suspicion. That same month, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on her in the form of nighttime house arrest. In June 2020, it was replaced with a personal recognizance obligation.
In December 2020, law enforcement officers completed the pretrial investigation and opened the materials for the defense to review. On June 30, 2021, the indictment was submitted to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
The trial on the merits began in August 2021 and lasted for more than five years. In May 2026, the court completed Pimakhova's questioning, which had lasted for more than three weeks. On October 28, the former official delivered her closing statement, after which the judges retired to the deliberation room to reach a decision.
What Pimakhova stated in her defense
Throughout the trial, the former official denied her guilt and insisted that she had not committed any corruption-related offenses. According to her, she had acted exclusively within the scope of her official powers and could not independently make decisions regarding the processing of documents for foreigners or the granting of Ukrainian citizenship.
Pimakhova also claimed that the NABU agent who established personal contact with her had persistently offered to help her process the documents and had raised the issue of monetary compensation. She explained her conduct during her communication with the agent by saying that she wanted to establish his true intentions.
In her closing statement on October 28, 2026, Pimakhova once again denied the charges. In addition, she spoke about a recent search of her home conducted by employees of the National Police's Department of Internal Security. According to the former official, the law enforcement officers who conducted the search allegedly already knew in advance about a possible guilty verdict in her case.