Former Ukrainian ambassador to U.S. suspected of illicit enrichment by anti-corruption agencies

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have announced that former Ukrainian ambassador to the United States Olha Stefanishyna is suspected of illicit enrichment. Investigators allege she illegally acquired assets worth 13.9 million hryvnias (about 25 million rubles) and falsified her asset declaration.

According to NABU, Stefanishyna owned two apartments in the Faina Town residential complex in Kyiv, registered in a friend’s name. The apartments were worth nearly 11 million hryvnias. She also, at various times, used real estate and vehicles registered to people close to her, including an apartment in the business-class Lvivska Ploshcha complex, without disclosing them in her declarations.

NABU also alleges that Stefanishyna negotiated to buy a house outside Kyiv for an estimated $550,000, but withdrew from the deal, likely because she had just been appointed to a diplomatic post abroad. Investigators say her official income could not have covered these purchases. Between early 2024 and mid-2025, she earned about 3.7 million hryvnias, yet roughly 4.2 million hryvnias moved out of her bank accounts alone.

Ukrainian officials announced the suspicion against Stefanishyna the day before. The High Anti-Corruption Court set her bail at six million hryvnias (about 11 million rubles). She said she had no funds — “neither 13, nor 10, nor six million.” “But of course, I will look for these funds so that I can post bail,” she added.

Stefanishyna had served as deputy prime minister for European integration since 2020. In August 2025, she was appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., succeeding Oksana Markarova. On August 3, 2026, a presidential decree relieving her of ambassadorial duties appeared on the president’s website. She herself said she had resigned of her own accord, citing “personal circumstances.”