Pre-trial restraint imposed on former SBU chief in Mykolaiv region

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv has imposed a pre-trial restraint on Vitaliy Gersak, the commander of the 423rd separate battalion of unmanned systems, a former head of the SBU in Mykolaiv region, who is suspected of illicit enrichment.

According to the SBI, the court denied the request for detention and set bail at UAH 10 million.

According to the investigation, in 2020-2021, when Gersak headed the SBU office in Mykolaiv region, he allegedly acquired assets registered in the names of his relatives, the value of which exceeds his official income by UAH 22 million.

The military officer denies the charges and calls the case a frame-up. He states that he did not own the property in question, and his family had sufficient income to purchase it. Gersak also emphasizes that after his service, he did business abroad.

At the hearing, he was supported by veterans and activists who pointed out the contradictions in the case and emphasized the risks to the combat capability of the units.

In addition, military commanders filed a motion with the court to take Gersak on bail.

It is known that in 2022, he voluntarily mobilized to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and headed a unit that performs combat missions in the Zaporizhzhia direction. In 2025, he was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, III degree.

Recently, the former head of the SBU in Mykolaiv region was notified of suspicion of possible illicit enrichment worth tens of millions of hryvnias. The investigation believes that the elite real estate could have been registered in the names of relatives to conceal the true origin of the assets.

As Intent wrote, it is the former head of the regional office of the Security Service of Ukraine in Mykolaiv region , Vitaliy Gersak.

In August 2023, Gersak founded the NGO Free and Faithful, which organized a conference with the Americans entitled "Creating an Effective Veteran Policy in Ukraine," where the former official tried to raise funds from donors. In 2021, after Vitaliy Gersak was dismissed from his position, an internal investigation was conducted against him.

Андрій Колісніченко