Security Service of Ukraine reports suspicion to Head of Russian Central Bank who may end up on international wanted list

The Security Service of Ukraine has notified Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, of suspicion due to her participation in financing the military groups of the aggressor country. This was reported by the press office of the Security Service of Ukraine. The Service has established that it was Nabiullina who organised the introduction of the so-called "rouble zone" in the temporarily occupied areas of the South and East of Ukraine.

For this purpose, the Russian official gave instructions to open "branches" of the Russian state-controlled Promsvyazbank on the basis of captured branches of Ukrainian financial institutions. In addition, the head of the Russian Central Bank assisted the local occupation administrations of the Russian Federation in blocking the circulation of the hryvnia [Ukrainian national currency - ed.]. In order to implement this, the Russians banned electronic transactions and cash payments in hryvnia on the captured territories, while also making impossible encashment of Ukrainian currency.

According to the investigation, the rouble revenues to the budget of the Russian Federation received this way were directed to funding the needs of Russia's military industry and occupation groups.

Based on the acquired evidence, the Security Service notified Nabiullinia that she was under suspicion under part 3 of Art.

110 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code (intentional actions committed by a representative of the authorities with the aim of changing the borders of the state border of Ukraine and violating the order established by the Constitution of Ukraine, which led to the death of people and other serious consequences). The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of incarceration for a term of 10 to 15 years or life imprisonment with confiscation of property. "The issue of declaring the suspect on the international wanted list is being discussed", the Service added. 

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Background:

In September, Great Britain and the United States introduced sanctions against the Head of the Central Bank of Russia. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the Russians have been trying to introduce the circulation of rouble in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, which violates international conventions and should be taken into account in lawsuits before international courts. Since 1 January 2023, Russians want to ban the circulation of hryvnia in the temporarily occupied city of Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia Oblast).

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