Shabunin's lawyer became a former NABU detective who was involved in the synagogue surveillance scandal and at the ECHR
Kyiv • UNN
Vitaliy Shabunin's lawyer became Serhiy Rokun, a former senior NABU detective who was involved in scandals with surveillance of a synagogue and at the ECHR. Shabunin is being chosen a pre-trial measure in a case of evasion of military service and illegal use of Ukrainian Armed Forces transport.
Serhiy Rokun, who abruptly left NABU last summer after a series of scandals and on the eve of an international audit, has become the lawyer for public activist and serviceman Vitaliy Shabunin, UNN reports.
Rokun last filed his annual declaration in March 2025, stating that he had resigned from the position of senior detective - head of the detective department. One of the most resonant episodes that caused a stir was his involvement in organizing external surveillance at the European Court of Human Rights, as well as at a synagogue in Kyiv.
"At the same time, the detective caught spying in Strasbourg, and the detective appearing in the protocol on audio control in the synagogue is one and the same person - Artem Sytnyk's employee S. Rokun," stated at the time the chief rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Reuven Azman.
It should be recalled that the SBI employees reported suspicion to Vitaliy Shabunin, who, according to the investigation, systematically evaded military service and illegally used a vehicle intended for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Having mobilized in 2022, the person involved did not appear at his place of service for a long time and, under the guise of "business trips" to the NAPC, stayed in civilian institutions that are not part of the defense forces. Facts of him receiving a monthly monetary allowance of more than 50 thousand hryvnias were also documented, despite his actual absence from the military unit.
It should be added that the NAPC is an executive body and cannot be a "shelter" for servicemen who are on duty.
According to the SBI, since February 2022, the bureau's employees have been conducting pre-trial investigations in 991 criminal proceedings regarding evasion of military service (Article 409 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). As a result of the investigations: suspicion was reported to 329 persons, 286 indictments were sent to court. Sentences were handed down to 119 persons.
Today, July 15, Shabunin's pre-trial detention measure is being chosen in court.