A friend of Vasyl Malyuk, whom NABU suspects of extorting 1 million dollars, turned out to be a participant in a gathering of Rostov “thieves in law”

A friend of Vasyl Malyuk, whom NABU suspects of extorting 1 million dollars, turned out to be a participant in a gathering of Rostov “thieves in law”

At the end of July this year, specialists from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office detained and announced suspicion against an SSU “intermediary” charged with extorting one million dollars. He turned out to be the criminal authority Andriy Osipov, nicknamed “Criminal.” Phone conversations included in the investigation revealed that Osipov is well acquainted with former SSU head Vasyl Malyuk and his family. This acquaintance helped uncover a network of connections leading to well-known thieves in law, a likely aide to members of parliament, and — sadly — to Russians.

Vasyl Malyuk began working in the Security Service in 2001, immediately after graduating from the SSU Academy. He headed the agency from February 2023 to January 2026, having served as acting head for six months prior. In this position, he gained significant media attention following special operations that blew up the Crimean Bridge, drone strikes on Russian military airfields deep in the rear, and the elimination of war criminals and traitors.

His dismissal at the beginning of this year caused great surprise, given his achievements and popularity. Only now, after the arrest of the criminal authority “Criminal,” has it become clear that Vasyl Malyuk had long been entangled in compromising connections.

The events that led to Andriy Osipov’s arrest took place back in 2022. According to the investigation, he acted as an intermediary between a detained Russian national seeking to avoid extradition to Russia and Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. For his assistance, Osipov demanded $1 million, part of which was allegedly intended for Malyuk himself.

Transcripts of phone conversations show that Osipov was on friendly terms with Malyuk. He referred to Malyuk’s wife as “Mrs. General’s wife” and to the then-acting SSU head as “brother” and “the Korostyshiv hooligan.”

Both Malyuk and Osipov come from Korostyshiv district in Zhytomyr region.

In 2024, Andriy Osipov was detained in Greece during a gathering of “thieves in law.” Along with him, Russian criminal authorities Nodari Asoyan, nicknamed “Nodar Rustavskyi,” and Andriy Imanali, nicknamed “Poluzvir,” were also apprehended. Later, under unclear circumstances, all of them were released.

Both “Rustavskyi” and “Poluzvir” had long sought Ukrainian citizenship. In 2022, it became known that “Rustavskyi” possessed at least three forged Ukrainian passports issued under different names. He does not hold a legitimate Ukrainian document.

This information, along with photographs of the passports, was published by former head of Ukraine’s criminal police Vyacheslav Abroskin on his Facebook page. The post is no longer available and was most likely deleted.

According to journalists, Andriy Imanali also allegedly obtained a Ukrainian passport, while he has been seeking Ukrainian refugee status through the courts for a long time.

Asoyan and Imanali are members of a Rostov criminal gang. This is important information in the context of the connections and acquaintances of former SSU head Vasyl Malyuk.

In 2023, it became known that then-Deputy Head of the National Police Dmytro Tyshlek lived in the house of a business partner of criminal authority Imanali. Tyshlek’s wife and her relatives held Russian passports issued in the Rostov region.

Earlier, in 2021, both Tyshlek and Vasyl Malyuk were spotted at the birthday party of Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Oleh Tatarov, who is considered the curator of the law enforcement system. Later, in October 2023, Tatarov and Tyshlek were seen together in the government quarter. Ten days after that, information was published about the Russian documents of Tyshlek’s family and his ties to the criminal world.

Together with Malyuk’s friend Andriy Osipov, detained last month for demanding one million dollars to resolve the extradition issue of a Russian national, his driver was also “packed.” The Anti-Corruption Center named him — Dmytro Fradin. He was found to possess a certificate of an SSU freelance employee.

Ukrainian registers list Dmytro Fradin, who had a sole proprietorship engaged in private security services, which may well correspond to the activities of the driver of criminal authority Osipov.

A 2023 Toyota Land Cruiser is registered to Fradin’s sole proprietorship. The most recent re-registration of the vehicle took place in February 2026.

The sole proprietorship of Osipov’s alleged driver has eleven unpaid fines for traffic violations.

At the same time, a likely relative of the driver — Semen Fradin — turned out to be a much more interesting figure. In the early 2000s, he served as head of the subsidiary enterprise “Expert” of the state enterprise “Resursy” under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. It had the KVED code “Intermediary services in transport, housing and communal services, household services, education, culture, healthcare, and science.”

From 2002 to 2019, Semen Fradin was an assistant to several members of parliament. Among them were former “regional” Oleh Zarubinskyi, ex-socialist and later Minister of Transport Mykola Rudkovskyi, and well-known representative of the sixth president’s party Volodymyr Aryev.

Thus, Osipov’s driver with an SSU freelance employee ID most likely ran a private security company, while his father, after working at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, advised members of the Verkhovna Rada for many years.

To recap, Andriy Osipov, who is friends with Vasyl Malyuk, was detained in Greece in 2024 at a gathering of thieves in law together with members of a Rostov criminal group who were trying to legalize themselves in Ukraine.

Around the same time, Greece extradited to Russia a former businessman suspected of stealing 87 million through the registration of shell companies. He turned out to be a certain Andriy Fradin, whose surname matches that of Osipov’s driver. Moreover, the Fradin extradited from Greece also hailed from the Rostov region, whose natives run like a red thread through this entire material.

It cannot be stated with certainty that the three Fradins — the driver, the parliamentary aide, and the Rostov fraudster — are relatives. However, they share a great many coincidences.

In one of the published episodes of Osipov’s conversations, he praises Malyuk: “Well, you’re a tiger, you took this one down, this Russian hare, you’re real beauties, brother.” It is rather strange to hear such words from a person who has ties to Russian criminal authorities and was even detained alongside them at a gathering.

Vasyl Malyuk’s voice is not present in the NABU recordings, but there is no doubt that Osipov spoke with him during at least one of the conversations.

Vasyl Malyuk has worked in the law enforcement system all his life. During martial law, declarations of security service employees have been removed from public access. In his last publicly available declaration, Malyuk reported owning a house in Zhytomyr region, land plots, cash, and a Lexus LX470.

Malyuk’s wife Yuliya has a sole proprietorship registered in Korostyshiv engaged in stone processing. A Lexus LX570 from 2013 is registered to this sole proprietorship. The most recent re-registration of the vehicle took place in 2024.

What actually connects Vasyl Malyuk with all the mentioned criminal authorities and whether he truly participated in resolving issues that the court must ultimately decide will be shown by the investigation. At the same time, the intertwining of Rostov bandits, Ukrainian SSU officers and police, bribery, and even the joint celebration of the birthday of the “overseer” of the law enforcement system Oleh Tatarov should cause enormous public resonance. While some give their lives for the freedom of the country, others befriend criminals from the aggressor country.