How a suspect in the NABU case became the "voice" of Ukrainian miltech in the West

Olena Shkarpova drew attention to the amazing metamorphosis of former Ukrainian lawyer Andriy Dovbenko. While in Ukraine the NABU is investigating his involvement in the embezzlement of over UAH 485 million through ARMA, in the UK he is successfully building the image of a respected investor and defender of Ukrainian technologies, facenews.ua reports.

The author wrote about this on her Facebook page, warning the international community against cooperating with toxic figures.

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The ARMA case and the escape to Britain

Recall that Andriy Dovbenko is a key figure in the NABU case regarding fraud with seized property, which was transferred to the ARMA department. According to the investigation, an organized group implemented corruption schemes during 2017–2018, which caused losses to the state in the amount of hundreds of millions of hryvnias.

However, as Olena Shkarpova notes, in 2023, when the investigation intensified, Dovbenko ended up in Britain, where he began to actively "whiten" his reputation.

"Angel investor" and columnist for world publications

According to the journalist's observations, in the English-speaking environment, Dovbenko's image has nothing to do with criminal proceedings. Instead, he positions himself as the founder of the TechExchange platform, which allegedly builds "bridges" between British and Ukrainian defense startups.

"I opened Google - and there are columns by Dovbenko in Fortune, Financial Times, Atlantic Council. In total, I counted about 20 articles under his name in various Western publications. Of course, the articles are written by very expensive, high-quality writers," Shkarpova notes.

On LinkedIn, British investors, military personnel, and journalists are posting glowing reviews of Dovbenko, calling him a “true patriot” and a “valued professional.” Attempts to point out a criminal past under his posts result in instant blocking.

The Problem of NABU's English-Language Communication

Olena Shkarpova emphasizes a dangerous trend: while the Ukrainian segment of the Internet is overflowing with information about the ARMA case, an English-language search yields almost exclusively positive or neutral materials about Dovbenko.

The journalist checked the English-language version of the NABU website and discovered a significant problem: news about the ARMA case and Dovbenko's summons for questioning were not translated into English. Because of this, Western editors and partners simply do not have the tools to quickly check the reputation of their authors or contractors.

"Not only Andriy Dovbenko, but also many Ukrainian "investors" live a cloudless life in Europe, have a respectable status and are even handshakes in higher circles. While at home, these gentlemen walk around under the article," Shkarpova summarizes.

The situation with Andriy Dovbenko demonstrates how corrupt capital can be used to manipulate Western public opinion, using the topic of war and miltech as a cover to avoid justice.