Vitaliy Shabunin
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Vitaliy Shabunin | |
|---|---|
 Vitaliy Shabunin in 2018 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 26, 1984 |
| Children | 2 |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Ukraine |
| Years of service | 2022-present |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Battles/wars | Russian invasion of Ukraine |
Vitaliy Viktorovich Shabunin (Ukrainian: Віталій Вікторович Шабунін; born 26 November 1984) is a Ukrainian human rights activist. In 2012, he co-founded the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a non-governmental organisation that reports on corruption in Ukraine. In 2025, Shabunin was charged with evading military service and fraud, in a move criticised by national and international human rights groups as being politically motivated and linked to his anti-corruption activism.
Shabunin was born and raised in Rivne, Rivne Oblast, in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.[1] He is married with two children and lives in Kyiv.[2]
Political career
In 2006, Shabunin was elected as a deputy to Rivne City Council. During his time as a deputy, he worked as an assistant to Viktor Matchuk and later to Lesya Orobets.[1]
During the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Shabunin ran to serve as a member of the Verkhovna Rada on the Civil Position list. He was not elected.[3]
Activism
In 2008, Shabunin moved to Kyiv, where he joined the non-governmental organisation Opora, and also headed the youth organisation Foundation of Regional Initiatives.[1]
In 2012, Shabunin co-founded the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC) with Daria Kaleniuk, which subsequently reported on hundreds of corruption cases involving the Ukrainian government, police and military, as well as local authorities and other institutions.[2][4] In addition to his work with AntAC, Shabunin frequently posted videos on YouTube, including collaborations with investigative journalists such as Yuriy Nikolov. Shabunin's activism has received notice in the Ukrainian media and has been both praised and criticised. AntAC's status as being wholly funded through international grants since 2014 has led to some describing Shabunin as being a "representative of foreign interests in Ukraine".[4]
In December 2013, during the Euromaidan, Shabunin and Kaleniuk launched YanukovychInfo, a website detailing the foreign holdings of the then-President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, as part of AntAC's campaign to freeze the assets held by Yanukovych and his associations outside of Ukraine.[5]
In 2017, Shabunin criticised members of then-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko's entourage, including lawmakers Igor Kononenko and Mykola Martynenko, accusing the former of colluding to siphon profits from the Ministry of Health.[6][7] During a protest about this, a criminal case was opened against Shabunin for "beating a journalist" after he allegedly assaulted blogger Vsevolod Filimonenko after Filimonenko insulted one of Shabunin's colleagues; during the encounter, Shabunin suffered from chemical burns after antiseptic was thrown in his face.[8][6][9] In 2023, Filimonenko admitted to having previously blackmailed Shabunin and other activists.[4]
Shabunin has been critical of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine since 2019, for his perceived backsliding on the issue of corruption. Shabunin has accused Zelenskyy of passing legislation that offered an amnesty to defence industry contractors accused of corruption; he also criticised Zelenskyy's decision to veto an independently selected anti-corruption candidate to serve as the head of the Economic Security Bureau.[10][11]
In July 2020, Shabunin's home in Hnidyn, Kyiv Oblast was burned down in a suspected arson attack.[2][12][13] The following December, explosive devices were found at the entrances of the homes of Shabunin's mother in Rivne and his wife's parents in Kyiv. Investigations into all three crimes did not lead to any charges or any assailants being identified.[14][2][15][16] The European Union delegation to Ukraine and the World Bank both expressed concerns about the attacks and called on Ukrainian authorities to investigate.[17][18] Over a thousand people donated money to support Shabunin to rebuild his home.[19]