Extortion of 1 Million Hryvnias for Not Extraditing a Russian Citizen: NABU/SAP Case Involves Criminal Authority Andriy Osipov “Kryminal”

The suspects in the extortion of 1 million dollars for “resolving the matter” to prevent the extradition to his homeland of Russian citizen Oleksandr Kuznetsov, whose exposure and detention were reported by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office on 30 July 2026, include the fellow townsman of former SBU head Vasyl Malyuk — Korostyshiv criminal authority Andriy Osipov, nicknamed “Kryminal.”

This was reported by two unconnected sources for Detector-Info who recognized the dignitary in courtroom photos published by the journalists at Slidstvo.Info.

Court documents indicate that the complainant who alleged pressure from “Kryminal,” who supposedly acted in tandem with former deputy head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration Eduard Lozovskyi, is 56-year-old native of Leningrad Oleksandr Kuznetsov.

Oleksandr Kuznetsov

His name first made headlines in Ukraine seven years ago after the National Police reported the detention of members of an international drug syndicate and the seizure of what was nearly the largest shipment of cocaine in our country’s history, which arrived in Kyiv from Latin America. It involved 400 kilograms of “Colombian coke,” and on suspicion of smuggling it a group of cartel members was detained — British national Sanner Dharminder Singh, Dutch national Maurits van Wanroy, Ukrainians Anton Fedorov, Anatolii Kogan, Vasyl Meserenko, and Russian citizen Kuznetsov.

Notably, compared with his accomplices Oleksandr Yuriyovych already then stood out because, in addition to facing Ukrainian investigative claims, he had significant drug-related problems with Russian law enforcement. As early as autumn 2016 he was charged with crimes related to the illegal circulation of narcotics in especially large amounts (part 1 of article 30, part 5 of articles 228–1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In the context of this, Kuznetsov left his homeland and arrived in Ukraine, where in autumn 2017 Deputy Prosecutor General Yevhen Yenin issued a decree ordering his extradition to Russia.

However, thanks to “procedural maneuvers” by the then head of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office Dmytro Chibisov (details of this story are in the Detector-Info investigation “White Carpet for the Courier”), Kuznetsov in July 2018 managed to obtain recognition as a refugee in Ukraine. The migration authorities rescinded that decision after the start of the “Colombian saga” involving 400 kg of cocaine, after which the dispute — centered on the question of handing over the drug syndicate leader to Russia — moved into the judicial arena.

In summer 2020 the appellate court ruled to strip the Interpol-wanted man of his asylum status in Ukraine, but the Supreme Court sided with Kuznetsov’s arguments.

Oleksandr Kuznetsov

Against that backdrop, a real scramble unfolded around attempts to remove Kuznetsov and two of his alleged accomplices from liability in the case involving the cocaine smuggling to Ukraine worth $60 million. It turned out that in spring 2020, during a personnel reshuffle at the top of the Office of the Prosecutor General, prosecutor Yanina Tertychna issued a decree to close the case “due to insufficient evidence established to prove guilt in court” (clause 3 part 1 article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine) concerning the suspected organization of narcotrafficking (part 3 article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) of cocaine from Latin America in especially large amounts.

The matter was “put out” after intervention by high-ranking officials from Riznytska, who annulled Tertychna’s decision. After that, the case against Kuznetsov and Co. was sent to the Podil District Court of Kyiv, where its hearings have since been at a standstill.

The last mention of the half-ton cocaine case is dated July 2024, although information about that hearing was placed under a publication ban.

Meanwhile, since February 2022 the administrative proceedings concerning the repeated revocation of Russian citizen Kuznetsov’s political asylum in Ukraine have been “stalled.” As previously noted on the pages of Detector-Info, Oleksandr Yuriyovych was stripped of refugee status by the State Migration Service’s decision of 11 October 2021, decision No. 346-21.

According to current NABU and SAP reports, in May 2022 the Security Service of Ukraine alerted Interpol-wanted Kuznetsov about this and subsequently “took the drug syndicate leader under control.”

In the investigators’ interpretation, an SBU officer named Roman advised the Russian to contact former deputy of the Luhansk RSA Eduard Lozovskyi. That man, according to the “chekist,” was to help the “cocaine smuggler” avoid criminal prosecution and extradition from Ukraine to Russia.

Eduard Lozovskyi

It is believed that initially Lozovskyi requested 2 million dollars to “resolve the matter,” after which “Kryminal” became involved in the “promotion.” Allegedly, Andriy Osipov was able to lower the price by 50% “thanks to his connections in the SBU.”

During a phone call, Lozovskyi told Kuznetsov that Osipov had coordinated the amount with his “longtime acquaintance” Vasyl Malyuk, who at that time had been appointed first deputy head of the SBU. Slidstvo.Info cites a fragment of the phone conversation between the dignitaries that the prosecutor read aloud in court:

- Lozovskyi: I’ll have to give this million away in any case. But I’m telling you the truth. Other people will tear you apart. That’s all.- Kuznetsov: I just have doubts that Andriy is talking there with someone high up, with Malyuk.

- Lozovskyi: I’m telling you again, I personally was in his office.- Kuznetsov: Why do they never leave me alone?

- Lozovskyi: Before the war, before his dismissal, I personally was in his office. That’s one. Second, I tell you again: of these 800 thousand, specifically 200 thousand — are his personally.

When determining preventive measures for “Kryminal,” the SAP prosecutor stated that the case materials indicate a personal acquaintance between Osipov and Malyuk. In conversations the man referred to himself as part of Malyuk’s “team” and used the phrase: “I’m with VV” (using Vasyl Vasyliovych’s initials). It is known that on the recordings Osipov discussed Malyuk’s wife and mentioned a shared past, calling the SBU leader a “Korostyshiv hooligan” who had reached a high level. One conversation recorded by “Kryminal” was identified by the prosecutor as a dialogue with Malyuk. That interlocutor of Osipov complained about an extraordinary workload after appointment: constant NSDC meetings, presidential selectors, etc. That conversation took place on 20 July 2022 — two days after Vasyl Malyuk was appointed acting head of the SBU.

Aside from Malyuk, Osipov’s conversations also mention one of the heads of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood of the SBU, Oleksandr Kovalchuk; former head of the SBU in Zhytomyr Oblast Serhii Lysak (who now serves as head of the Odesa City Military Administration); and SBU generals Serhii Duka and Illia Vityuk.

It should be noted that investigators have not established the fact of money being handed over to SBU employees. As for “Kryminal,” who was forced face-down onto the asphalt on 30 July 2026, the next day the “reshała” was placed in pretrial detention without alternative.

The current criminal saga is far from the first in the colorful biography of the native of Korostyshiv district, who has repeatedly been targeted for prosecution in the past. Among Osipov’s probable connections, the SAP prosecutor during the hearing named Kyiv criminal authority Kyrylo Ostrovskiy (“Kirill”), who from November 2019 for four years was considered the so-called “watcher” over Prison No. 1 in Ukraine — Lukianivska pre-trial detention center. It is known that law enforcement recorded a direct meeting of the Zhytomyr “Kryminal” with the “manager from the thieves,” but did not specify the timeline of that rendezvous.

Kyrylo Ostrovskiy

Separately, as previously reported by Detector-Info, at the end of June 2024 Andriy Osipov was detained by Greek law enforcement during the so-called “Athens reception” — a raid to prevent a gathering of members of the highest caste of the criminal world on the Aegean coast. At that time “Kryminal” was “bagged” in the company of criminal authority Andriy Imanali (who at various times also used documents under the surnames Rodin, Pokhil, Rozhdestvensky, etc.), nicknamed “Poluzvir”/“Andriy Rostovskyi,” as well as thieves-in-law “Tavi” (Heorhii Endeladze), David Ozmanov (“Dato Krasnodarsky”), and Interpol-wanted “Nodar Rustavskyi” (Nodari Asoyan). However, shortly thereafter all participants of the distinguished gathering for reasons not disclosed ended up free.