By James Bradley and Flor Blanco, Photo by Photo by Pavel Danilyuk
MARCH 27,2025—UKRAINE Oleg Kulinich is a political prisoner in Ukraine who continues his stint in prison due to suspicion of treasonous acts. Kulinich claims to have worked with the Ukrainians supporting President Trump’s anti-corruption task force during the president’s first term. It was an assignment that placed Kulinich in the inner circles of shady characters and transactions involving the misuse of US taxpayer money. Is it possible that locked up with Kulinich are answers to the ultimate destination and use of the billions of US foreign aid funds sent to Ukraine?
A Judicial and Legal System Blinded by Money
While on assignment with the anti-corruption teams, Kulinich investigated Andriy Portnov, former Deputy Chief of Staff under Vicktor Yanukovych’s presidency from 2010-2014, and infamous lawyer labeled for influencing and corrupting the judiciary and legal systems in Ukraine. Portnov’s work led to legal permission of lawlessness, political persecution of those blocking state interests, the denial of legal protections of those falsely accused, and imprisonment for some, like Kulinich. The influence Portnov had in destroying the judiciary system in Ukraine was so great, Portnov supposedly played a hand in the illegal removal of the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in 2021, Oleksandr Tupitsky. Thereby, crippling the Ukrainian Constitutional Court of Ukraine, as Judge Tupitsky explained during a recent interview given to Uncensored Beat. In statements provided to Uncensored Beat, Kulinich says the investigations he performed with US partners ultimately led to US sanctions against Portnov in 2021, which are still in effect.
Statements from others taken during these investigations linked the use of US foreign aid funds to pay Ukrainian and US public officials with the aim of ensuring compliance and continuation of unlawful money flows. Based on these statements, one of the destinations of the funds possibly lead to Portnov and his network of compromised judicial and legal officials.
Despite continued US sanctions against him and despite him fleeing Ukraine in 2022 to avoid the draft, rumors still circulate about Portnov’s strong influence in Ukrainian courts and with prosecutors that remain to this day. Two of Zelenskyy’s Deputy Chief of Staffers are known to have ties with Portnov. One of them, Oleg Tartarov, was Portnov’s former lawyer.
Ironically, Oleg Kulinich believes that it was his successful work with US investigators against Portnov, which made him a targeted scapegoat for alleged treason against Ukraine. Denys Kovinko, the Ukrainian Prosecutor leading the case against Kulinich in court, is rumored to have planted evidence in legal cases, with his name listed on the website of the legal corruption watch dog the Myrotvorets Center. Kulinich’s legal team believes Kulinich’s case to be another example of Koviko’s handy work of falsifying case records with the support and possible funding of those friendly to Portnov.
Is the US Judicial System of Today a Shadow of Ukraine?
Meanwhile two days earlier in the US, Speaker Mike Johnson issued a congressional proposal that could forcibly align judges blocking many of President Trump’s executive orders into compliance with the policies of the current administration. Yesterday, a similar proposal was issued under the majority leader of the US Senate, Senator Grassley. The actions of both US congressional leaders signal a crack in the third leg of the US government, which was once believed to be immune to strong political influence.
The potential parallels between issues experienced in US and Ukraine judicial and legal systems may seem unlikely. However, both convene within the influential scope of George Soros. In the US, Soros has left a legacy of funding and installing attorney generals and district attorneys nationwide, according to PoliceDefense.org another legal watchdog. Has Soros’s money and sway entered into the US judiciary realm as well?
In Ukraine where lobbying is illegal, George Soros’s Renaissance Foundation, a program run by the Open Society, help to establish the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) of Ukraine in 2014. The NABU is bilaterally supported by both Ukraine and the US, with very heavy influence from the US side. This “independent” investigative security and enforcement arm focuses on fighting corruption. In 2021, Soros’s Renaissance Foundation implemented an online training course opened to the Ukrainian public on how identify and report corruption. Anti-corruption programs are among the standard funding programs of USAID, per the GAO audit in 2024. Is it possible that some US funds could have supported Soro’s interests?
Per statements gathered during Kulinich’s investigations, work delving into Portnov’s judiciary and legal empire revealed that Portnov bought influence through “purchasing” procedural decisions and promoting loyal individuals to senior positions in the judiciary, prosecution, and the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). Portnov also managed to destroy criminal investigation materials and ensure his return to Ukraine in June 2019, after temporarily leaving because of the 2014 revolution in Ukraine. Is it possible that Portnov’s influence could have been supported by Soros’s organizations, the NABU and ultimately US taxpayer funds?
Is Oleg Kulinich a Victim of Judicial Corruption?
Per Kulinich’s legal team, no formal charges of treason have been issued against Kulinich, nearly three years after his arrest in 2022. Since that time, most of the case proceedings remained closed to the public. Reports from Kulinich’s legal team indicate prolonging the case with very little opportunity given to the defense to present evidence to challenge claims of treason while ignoring the claims of judicial corruption against the prosecutor, Koviko. Is it possible that Kulinich’s experience could shed light on the judicial and legal environment we are experiencing in the US today and how it may be funded? Will the American public ever be given the chance to hear about what Kulinich knows or to hear him speak?