By James Bradley and Flor Blanco, Photo by Petkevich Evgeniy
WEDNESDAY JUNE 4, 2025, KIEV, UKRAINE–In the darkness of a confined cell where Oleg Kulinich awaits in solitude, a light truly shines. Kulinich, a former Ukrainian counterpart aiding in US anti-corruption efforts, is now marked a potential traitor by the Zelenskyy administration since his arrest in July 2022. What’s illuminated amid the chain of events surrounding Oleg’s most recent court date and denial of his request for fair trial proceedings, were odd reactions by the Zelenskyy regime to ensure what Kulinich has to say remains a secret.
And yet, after three long years of imprisonment, no formal arraignment solidifying the existence of proper evidence to support claims of treason has occurred. During the court proceedings, the Ukrainian court again refused to grant a public hearing for Kulinich for the arraignment. Instead, the court decided to delay a decision regarding a public hearing for another two months, a process that has occurred repeatedly for the last three years.
Oddly, while public protests remain strictly suppressed under Ukraine’s martial law, a band of protestors sprinkling the outside of the courthouse demand the court issue a decision to officially arraign Kulinich on treason charges. Sources claim the protestors are cohorts of Malyuk, the current leader of the Security Bureau of Ukraine (SBU). It was the SBU who investigated and arrested Kulinich. This same band of people were eyed protesting around the US embassy earlier.
The new interim US Ambassador, Julie Davis, recently arrived in Ukraine at the end of May. It is unclear whether the ambassador was briefed about Kulinich’s whereabouts, despite the maneuvers of the protectors to elicit a biased view of him.
Additionally, the writers of Uncensored Beat were approached by the newly appointed Deputy of Ministry of Defense in Ukraine, Captain Valerii Churkin, to discuss his military project. His request is a far cry from Uncensored Beat’s humanitarian assignment to vie for Human Rights, which are being denied to Kulinich, in our search for truth.
What does the US embassy have to lose by Kulinich’s trial? Could it be testimony or information detailing the levels of Ukrainian corruption linked to US officials? Could it be data confirming greater depths of the Biden family’s potentially illegal activities?
Now, such claims could be supported by questions of moral character based on domestic scandals such as the Biden autopen incident and the possible coverup of Biden’s failing health. Is the threat of Kulinich to the Zelenskyy regime and potential value to US anti-corruption effort finally being exposed in light of such unusual activity? Is it possible that efforts to reveal Kulinich’s story are working?
The following statement from Kulinich’s Lawyer Andriy Nahod paints the situation.
The peculiarity of today’s hearing was that a support group of the prosecution was brought to the court, which actually exerted pressure on the court, as the posters of the “activists” contained the names of the judges in the case and a question-demand for a verdict against Kulinich. So, what we have in this case [is] a public accusation of treason through the media without a verdict, detention without alternative for almost three years, closed court sessions from the media and forceful blocking of the media to express their position, violation of the right to defense and the presumption of innocence, delay in the consideration of the appeal beyond the period of detention under the previous ruling, and now public events demanding a verdict.
At the same time, the case is built on materials that cannot be called evidence in the sense of procedural law, and the announced audio recordings of conversations are “slices” and relate to periods far before 2022, when Kulinich was not an SBU employee.
At the same time, the court has already examined the part of the evidence that at least refutes the accusation of Kulinich’s unauthorized departure from his place of service (documents confirming the legality of his transfer to Kyiv), and thus, there is no need to talk about the direct requirements of the law to keep him in custody.
However, the struggle for human rights continues and the goals will definitely be achieved.
Sources for Uncensored Beat report that conditions in prison for Kulinich have deteriorated significantly with increased control. Wardens receive hourly reporting about Kulinich’s movements and actions to control and prevent any contact. Such conditions should draw the attention of the US Ambassador and our Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Each day such violations occur, is yet another day on which the constraints of our US foreign aid policy are also violated.
Kulinich’s situation brings to light what fruit arises from unyielded corruption, as we with the rest of the western world stand on the brink of war that was potentially built by embezzled funds from the US taxpayers. As threat of war increases, the issue of corruption is not fully addressed but remains hidden and lurking in the shadows, like the truths held by Oleg Kulinich in his jail cell.