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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The High Anti-Corruption Court found Dina Pimakhova guilty of corruption offenses related to the processing of documents for foreigners and sentenced her to nine years of imprisonment with confiscation of assets.
On 2 November 2026 the High Anti-Corruption Court announced the verdict against the former first deputy head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine, Dina Pimakhova. She was found guilty of soliciting and receiving an undue benefit in an especially large amount. The court sentenced her to nine years of imprisonment with confiscation of all property belonging to her.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office reported the decision. The name of the convicted person was established based on materials from NABU and publications about the court proceedings.
According to the SAP, the panel of judges of the HACC found the former official guilty of committing criminal offenses provided for in part 4 of article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In addition to nine years in prison, the court prohibited Pimakhova from holding positions defined by law in state authorities and local self-government for three years, except for elected positions.
What the former SMS official was tried for
According to the investigation materials, in June 2017 Pimakhova offered to arrange a temporary residence permit in Ukraine for a Vietnamese citizen. The document was to be valid for one year with the possibility of subsequent extension up to three years.
For assistance in arranging the permit, the official asked for 1800 dollars, which she later received.
The second episode concerned a citizen of Iran. In August 2017 Pimakhova offered to arrange for him to acquire Ukrainian citizenship by territorial origin.
For this, according to the investigation, they planned to use forged documents that were to confirm the foreigner’s family ties with Ukrainian citizens. In particular, these included falsified DNA test results and court decisions.
Through this scheme, the foreigner could obtain a Ukrainian internal passport and a foreign passport without having lawful grounds to acquire citizenship.
For organizing this process Pimakhova asked for 30 thousand dollars.
Detailed circumstances of both episodes are set out in the official NABU materials.
How Pimakhova’s case caused a conflict between NABU, the SBU and the Prosecutor General’s Office
The corrupt episodes were uncovered during a NABU undercover special operation in 2017. Detectives were documenting a possible scheme for illegal issuance of documents to foreigners involving migration service officials.
However, on 29 November 2017 the SBU detained a NABU agent while he was attempting to hand Pimakhova 15 thousand dollars.
At that time the State Migration Service stated that the agent had tried to provoke the official into taking a bribe. Pimakhova herself also denied illegal actions and asserted that she contacted law enforcement after proposals to give her money.
NABU, for its part, said it was conducting an operation to expose a corruption scheme, and that the intervention of the SBU and the Prosecutor General’s Office disrupted investigative actions.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, then-director of NABU Artem Sytnyk said that Pimakhova was the first to name the sum of 30 thousand dollars for arranging citizenship for the foreigner.
NABU also claimed the operation was intended to help identify other participants in the possible corruption scheme, but after the law enforcement agencies’ intervention it could not be continued.
In March 2018 Pimakhova was dismissed from the position of first deputy head of the SMS at her own request.
What happened during the trial
In December 2019 NABU and the SAP notified Pimakhova of suspicion. At the end of 2020 the detectives completed the pre-trial investigation, and in June 2021 the indictment was transferred to the HACC.
During the trial the former official did not admit guilt and insisted she had been the victim of a provocation.
According to the project Transparency International Ukraine “HACC decided”, on 21 May 2026 the court completed Pimakhova’s questioning, which lasted more than three weeks.
The defendant argued that she did not have the authority to independently decide issues of foreigners acquiring citizenship. According to her, the relevant documents were processed by territorial subdivisions of the SMS, while she was mainly responsible for technical and administrative areas.
Pimakhova also stated that NABU agent Serhiy Titinkov allegedly pressured her to receive an undue benefit.
On 28 October 2026 the HACC heard the defendant’s final statement. She again denied her guilt and said she acted within the scope of her official powers. After that the judges retired to the deliberation room to render the verdict.
Transparency International Ukraine reported on the last court session.
The High Anti-Corruption Court’s verdict may be appealed within 30 days from the day of its announcement.
If an appeal is not filed, the decision will enter into force after the expiration of that period. If appealed, the final decision will depend on the results of the appellate review.
Recall that the SAP filed a lawsuit with the HACC regarding assets worth almost 4 million hryvnias registered in the name of the mother of the former head of the Kyiv department for combating drug-related crime.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Громадянство за гроші: колишню першу заступницю голови ДМС засудили до 9 років із конфіскацією майна". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: StopKor.
