Hersak claimed that his arrest was intended to divert attention from «Mindich tapes»

Vitalii Hersak, the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Mykolaiv region, who has been notified of charges of illicit enrichment, has described the case against him as fabricated by the former leadership of the President’s Office in order to divert attention from the new «Mindich tapes».

In a post on his Facebook page, he names Andrii Yermak and Oleh Tatarov as being involved in this, who, according to him, continue to micromanage the security services.

Vitalii Hersak accused the President’s Office of influencing the case against him. Photo from his personal Facebook page

«I first learnt of the fabrication of the case by SBI staff from former colleagues back in mid-2025, when preparations for a possible election began to be discussed in the public sphere. When I asked «why?», I was given a terse reply — «pure politics» and «orders from Bankova». It is clear that the former Head of the Presidential Office, A. Yermak, and the current Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, O. Tatarov, continue to micromanage the law enforcement system, preparing for the elections and thus attempting to divert attention from the publication of the «Mindich tapes», saving themselves and their corrupt gang,» writes Vitalii Gersak.

He goes on to describe in detail his work in 2019–2020, when he headed the SBU department in the Mykolaiv region. According to him, he accepted the post to combat organised crime, which, as he notes, has been active since the Yanukovych presidency.

The former official claims that this work resulted in the flight from Ukraine of the criminal boss Mykhailo Titov («Multyk») and the imprisonment of Ihor Naumenko («Nauma»). At the same time, he states that he was prevented from completing the work he had begun due to a conflict with the then leadership of the SBU, in particular with its head, Ivan Bakanov.

«They wouldn’t let me make a single independent official appointment; they tried to give me illegal instructions and so on. It got to the point where, following one of the SBU’s anti-corruption operations against the local leadership of the tax police, another «inspection from Naumov» arrived, as a result of which a number of my subordinates received disciplinary reprimands, and I was demoted from colonel to lieutenant-colonel. At the same time, all this was accompanied by attempts to discredit me in the media and the harassment of my family and friends. In 2020, I made a fundamental decision that I was not on the same wavelength as this government and submitted two requests for resignation. Becoming part of this system was, for me personally, repugnant and unacceptable. I refused attempts by ‘political intermediaries’ to resolve all the problematic issues in exchange for continued loyalty. I also turned down new job offers,» he added.

After his dismissal in 2021, he moved into business, so he described the allegations of illicit enrichment as baseless.

«Since 2021, I have been an ordinary private entrepreneur, so I am actually curious as to how, according to the State Bureau of Investigation and the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, my illicit enrichment took place? I categorically reject all accusations against me! I would like to emphasise that no one caught me red-handed or caught me in the act, despite the fact that my high-ranking detractors had not only personal motives for doing so, but also unprecedented opportunities. Furthermore, I have no intention of fleeing Ukraine! I am not Mindich — I have nowhere to go and nothing to «run away» from! It is I who have fought and continue to fight for this country, not them! I consider the case against me and my family to be an attempt to divert public attention from the latest batch of corruption allegations and the persecution of combat commanders disloyal to the authorities,» stated Vitalii Hersak.

Vitalii Hersak described the criminal case against him as fabricated. He effectively accused the current authorities of persecuting military personnel and of selective justice.

«The Bakanovs are left untouched, the Shufrychs are let off, the Mindichs and Shefirs are given a «green light» to flee, whilst cases are fabricated against combat commanders. Their enemies are not the corrupt and the traitors, but those who refuse to bow down to them. But they won’t have enough cells or criminal cases for all the disloyal, dissenting and uncontrollable ones,» he added in his post.

As a reminder, on 1 May, the State Bureau of Investigations and the Office of the Prosecutor General served a notice of suspicion on Vitalii Hersak, the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s Mykolaiv Regional Directorate. He is accused of illicit enrichment during the period 2020–2021.

Vitaliy Gersak was appointed head of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Mykolaiv region on 11 September 2019. In November 2020, Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed him from his post as head of the department.

A year before his appointment, during a visit to the Mykolaiv region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Mykolaiv as a gangster town. And in August 2020, a few months before Hersak’s dismissal, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he no longer held that view.

In 2023, at a sporting event in Odesa, Major General Dmytro Marchenko referred to Vitalii Hersak as his brother-in-arms. At the time, the general said that Vitalii Hersak, despite having the opportunity to remain safe abroad, had chosen to defend the state on the front line.