Former MP Andrii Derkach is charged with receiving a bribe of over $567,000 from Russian special services for discrediting Ukraine and obstructing its integration into the EU and NATO.

Andrii Derkach is a former MP who served in the III–IX convocations. A former member of the Party of Regions, he studied at the KGB school in Moscow and voted for the “dictator laws” of January 16, 2014. He is under U.S. sanctions.

The investigation established that between 2019 and 2022, former MP Andrii Derkach received at least $567,000 from Russian law enforcement and intelligence agencies. He discredited Ukraine in the international arena, worsened diplomatic relations with the United States, and complicated Ukraine's integration into the EU and NATO.

According to the investigation, Derkach facilitated special information campaigns that were widely covered in Ukrainian and foreign media and discredited the Ukrainian government, aimed at worsening relations with partner countries.

In particular, in 2020, Derkach held online conferences “New facts of international corruption and external governance of Ukraine,” “New recordings of conversations that testify to international corruption and external governance of Ukraine,” “New facts of international corruption and external governance of Ukraine.” At one of the conferences, the former MP released alleged recordings of conversations between Poroshenko and Biden, as well as Poroshenko and Putin, which had taken place in 2015–2016.

Andrii Derkach's actions were classified under Article 28(2), Article 111(1), and Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In addition, in June 2022 the SSU reported the exposure of a large-scale agent network of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, in which MP Andrii Derkach played a key role. According to the investigation, the politician was recruited by Russian military intelligence as early as 2016, under the supervision of senior GRU leadership — Igor Kostyukov and Vladimir Alekseev. Derkach's main task was to set up a network of private security companies in different regions of Ukraine, which during the full-scale invasion were meant to assist the advance of Russian forces, ensure the “peaceful” entry of enemy troops into cities, and help seize the government quarter in Kyiv.

To implement this plan, the GRU allocated $3–4 million in funding every few months, part of which the MP appropriated for himself. The communications and financial courier in this scheme was the MP's former assistant Ihor Kolesnikov, who after his detention entered into a plea agreement with the investigation and confirmed the enemy's plans to install a puppet government in Ukraine.

While a suspect, Derkach evaded the investigation, and a special pre-trial investigation (in absentia) was conducted against him. In September 2022, Derkach was placed on the wanted list. In January 2023, Zelenskyy deprived him of his citizenship, and the Verkhovna Rada prematurely terminated his powers and stripped him of his parliamentary mandate.

In addition to Ukraine, the investigation against Derkach is also being conducted by the United States of America. There, he is charged with money laundering, bank fraud, and violation of previously imposed sanctions. Derkach faces 30 years in an American prison.

Despite the sanctions and the charges, Andrii Derkach openly conducts political activity in Russia. In November 2024, the former MP joined the Committee on Defense and Security of the Russian Federation Council. In the summer of 2024, he stood as a candidate for the Russian Federation Council.  By September, he had become a senator in the Federation Council representing Astrakhan Region. In December 2025, it became known that Derkach had been awarded the title of hero of Russia.

In November 2025, the fugitive former MP's name was mentioned in the Midas case. The NABU reported that the task of laundering illegally obtained funds was assigned to a separate office of the criminal organization located in central Kyiv. The premises belonged to the family of Andrii Derkach — the former MP and now a politician in Russia, who has been charged with high treason.

The NABU also noted ties between some of the Midas case defendants and Andrii Derkach — for instance, the defendant codenamed “Rocket.” This is Ihor Myroniuk, former adviser to former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and former assistant to Andrii Derkach.

The investigation additionally established that it was in the office provided by Derkach that the participants in the criminal scheme maintained strict accounting of the funds received, kept “black ledgers,” and laundered money through a network of non-resident companies.