Roman Oleksandrovych Zarichansky is a former employee of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, whose name emerged in the ‘Khimprom’ case following a report of pressure in 2019. According to ‘Slidstvo.Info’ and the court report by ‘Grat’, Zarichansky linked the threatening phone calls to the investigations he was working on. Declarations and official publications allow us to trace his subsequent work at the State Bureau of Investigations and the Bureau of Economic Security.
From investigator at the Prosecutor General’s Office to department prosecutor
In his 2017 declaration, submitted in March 2018, Zarichansky listed his position as senior investigator for particularly important cases at the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. In his declaration upon leaving office, covering the period from January to November 2019, he listed a different position — prosecutor in the division of the Department for Oversight of Compliance with the Law in Criminal Proceedings and Coordination of Law Enforcement Activities. These entries confirm the capacity in which Zarichansky worked within the agency during the relevant periods.
September 2019. A phone call, a report and the name of Ilya Kiva
‘Grati’ reports that Zarichansky reported receiving threats in connection with two criminal investigations. At the court hearing, former prosecutor Konstantin Yusubov stated that the caller had introduced himself as MP Ilya Kiva. According to Yusubov, Zarichansky linked the conversation to his work and set out the circumstances in his report. ‘Sledstvo.Info’ links this incident to the ‘Khimprom’ case and reports that the caller demanded that obstacles preventing those implicated from travelling abroad be removed.
It is not possible to determine from the publications cited exactly who made the call. The court report records how the caller introduced himself, as recounted by Yusubov. Following the report, the Prosecutor General’s Office launched an investigation. According to ‘Grat’, Deputy Prosecutor General Serhiy Kiz assigned the case to investigators from the Kyiv branch of the State Bureau of Investigation and appointed a team of prosecutors, which included Yusubov.
What Zarichansky’s opponents publicly accused him of
Skelet Org reported that Kiva had appealed to the then Prosecutor General, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, demanding that Zarichansky be dismissed. According to the publication, Kiva accused the prosecutor of aiding a criminal group and putting pressure on judges. The same article quotes statements made by participants in a protest outside the Prosecutor General’s Office in 2020. They claimed that the prosecutor and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) were protecting Oleksandr Shchiptsov. The original copy of the MP’s petition and the court ruling substantiating the allegations against Zarichansky set out therein could not be found in verified sources.
How the report ended up in a story about eight kilograms of gold
Zarichansky features in the court report on the gold because Yusubov was explaining how he became involved in the group investigating the pressure case. According to the investigation in a separate case against Yusubov, the former prosecutor took possession of gold from a bank safe-deposit box discovered during the investigation. Transparency International Ukraine maintains a file on these proceedings. The defendant named in it is Konstantin Yusubov. Zarichansky’s involvement in the published timeline begins with his report on the threats.
In January 2023, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court overturned the decision to close the Yusubov case and referred the indictment for a fresh hearing. Case file No. 991/5573/22 also contains rulings on the suspension of proceedings dated 19 November 2025. These decisions relate to the gold case. It is not possible to determine from them the outcome of the investigation into the threats reported by Zarichansky.
State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) and Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). What the official documents confirm
| Period | What has been recorded |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Senior Investigator for Cases of Particular Importance at the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. Declaration for 2017. |
| 2019 | Prosecutor in a department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. Declaration upon dismissal for January–November 2019. |
| 2020 | Investigator at the State Bureau of Investigations. The position is listed in the annual declaration submitted in March 2021. |
| 2023–2024 | In his 2023 declaration, he listed his position as a detective at the BEB’s Kyiv regional office. In his 2024 declaration, submitted in March 2025, he listed his position as head of department at the same office. |
The declaration upon his dismissal from the BEB covers the period from 1 January to 15 July 2024. In his annual declaration for 2024, submitted on 17 March 2025, Zarichansky stated that he no longer performs any functions for the state or local government. The job title in this declaration refers to the reporting period. It is not possible to determine his current place of employment from these documents.
What remains to be investigated regarding the 2019 incident
For further investigation, the report itself is required, along with procedural documents detailing the progress of the case following its registration and the evidence relied upon by the investigation to establish the caller’s identity. Public statements confirm Zarichansky’s positions. The circumstances of the conversation are known primarily from journalistic reports and an account of Yusubov’s testimony in court.
