Search in the apartment of the mother of the deceased Jus pilot in the case of Vitaliy Shabunin: what is known
16 July 19:21
on July 11, investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation searched the Kharkiv apartment of the mother of the deceased pilot Andriy “Dzhus” Pilshchikov. According to Lilia Averyanova, the search was related to an investigation into the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Vitaliy Shabunin, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“This is the apartment where the child grew up from birth to become a professional pilot, and you have to go in with your hat off,” the pilot’s mother said in a comment to Suspilne.
She said that she was in Kyiv when investigators called her and warned her about the intention to break down the door. They managed to stop it at the last moment – a neighbor brought the keys.
Averyanova emphasized that the apartment is often not empty: friends who come to Kharkiv, including Vitaliy Shabunin, spend the night there. According to her, it was convenient for her to have a “trusted person” look after the apartment, as accidents often occur in the building due to shelling.
“This apartment was not damaged by the Nazis during that war. The occupiers did not break into it. But the investigation team had an illegal permit to enter this apartment,” she emphasized.
The woman also said that after the searches, her condition deteriorated sharply and she was hospitalized.
SBI’s response
In a commentary to Suspilne, SBI spokesperson Tetiana Sapian noted that the search was conducted exclusively within the law. According to her, on July 11, four searches were conducted as part of criminal proceedings regarding fraud and evasion of service by a military officer.
“One of the objects is an apartment in Kharkiv, where the defendant in the case actually lived until the morning of July 10,” Sapian said, emphasizing that the actions were not directed against the mother of the deceased Hero.
The SBI assures that the criminal proceedings have nothing to do with Shabunin’s professional activities, and the searches are confirmed by court decisions.
What is known about Shabunin’s case
on July 11, the SBI notified Vitaliy Shabunin of suspicion of service evasion and fraud. According to the investigation, after being mobilized in 2022, he did not report to the military unit for a long time and stayed in civilian institutions under the guise of business trips. Also, according to the SBI, he used an SUV imported as humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces.
The AntAC stated that the case is considered a political reprisal, and Shabunin himself accused President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of trying to establish “corrupt authoritarianism” in response to the suspicion.
on July 14, it became known that Shabunin was in Kyiv and had received a number of summonses for interrogation by the SBI. on July 15, the court imposed a measure of restraint on him – a personal commitment until August 20. He is prohibited from leaving the location of the military unit in Kharkiv region, communicating with other defendants in the case, and must surrender his passport.
