Members of the National Guard threatened to march on Kyiv

In May 2025, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) carried out large-scale searches at the National Guard command as part of a corruption investigation. The homes of National Guard Commander Brigadier General Oleksandr Pivnenko, as well as several officers from the logistics and rear support departments, were also searched.

At a briefing with journalists on July 22, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Vasyl Maliuk, said that following the searches, half of the National Guard laid down their weapons and refused to carry out their duties, while the other half threatened to march on Kyiv. He added that these events had a direct impact on the situation at the front.

“How can you just go to the commander of the National Guard, to a Hero of Ukraine, to a combat general like Pivnenko with a search warrant? Just come like that, when the issues are minor at best. Does he deserve that? And then it all spread across Telegram channels. Half of the National Guard laid down their weapons and refused to carry out tasks because they started doubting what kind of commander he is. And the other half wanted to go to Kyiv, so the Minister (of Internal Affairs) Klymenko spent a week visiting all the units to calm the situation down,” Maliuk said.

These events came to light following the recent raid by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on the offices of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), as well as the passage of a new law limiting the powers of NABU and SAPO – a move many have described as a return to the Yanukovych era.

As a result of the searches in May, six senior officials from the National Guard’s logistics department, including the chief of logistics, Oleksandr Bilous, were dismissed from their positions.