Andrii Leonidovych Derkach ( uk, Андрій Леонідович Деркач; born 19 August 1967) is a Ukrainian politician and businessman. He has been a member of the
Ukrainian Parliament
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
from 1998 to January 2023, serving seven terms, with several parties. In 2021, the United States Government accused him of being a "Russian agent" and sanctioned him for
interference in the 2020 United States elections, and the Ukrainian government sanctioned him for spreading
Russian propaganda
The propaganda of the Russian Federation promotes views, perceptions or agendas of the government of Russia. The media include state-run outlets and online technologies, and may involve using "Soviet-style 'active measures' as an element of m ...
.
In June 2022, the
Security Service of Ukraine
The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...
(SBU) said that Derkach received funds from the Russian
GRU
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...
to create private security companies that Russia planned to use to capture Ukraine, and that
Prosecutor General of Ukraine
The prosecutor general of Ukraine (also procurator general of Ukraine, uk, Генеральний прокурор України) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General ( uk, Офіс ...
had started a pre-trial investigation into his role.
In August 2020, U.S. counterintelligence chief
William Evanina
William R. Evanina (born 1967) is an American national security official who served as director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) until his January 2021 resignation. As director of the NCSC he was the he ...
identified Derkach as a key participant in
Russian efforts to harm
Joe Biden's candidacy in the
2020 U.S. presidential election.
United States intelligence community
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
analysis released in March 2021 found that Derkach was among proxies of Russian intelligence who promoted and
laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about Biden "to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration." Trump's personal attorney
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
met with Derkach in December 2019.
Both Andrii and his father Leonid Derkach were close with the Kremlin-linked Ukrainian oligarch
Vadim Rabinovich
Vadim Zinovyevich Rabinovichrussian: Вади́м Зино́вьевич Рабино́вич he, ודים רבינוביץ' (born 4 August 1953) is an Israeli and formerly Ukrainian oligarch and Jewish community leader. He is a former leader ...
, and
Crime boss
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization.
Description
A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...
es
Semyon Mogilevich
Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich ( uk, Семен Юдкович Могилевич, Semén Yúdkovych Mohylévych ; born June 30, 1946) is a Ukrainian-born Russian organized crime boss. He quickly built a highly structured criminal organization, in ...
, and ,
Leonid Minin
Leonid Efimovich Minin (; ua, Леонід Юхимович Мінін, Leonid Yukhymovych Minin; born 14 December 1947) is an international arms trafficker. He was arrested on August 4, 2000 by Italian authorities in Cinisello Balsamo near Mila ...
, and
Sergei Mikhailov.
Early life and education
Derkach was born on 19 August 1967 in
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
,
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
, the son of
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
officer
Leonid Derkach
Leonid Vasylovych Derkach ( uk, Леонід Васильович Деркач; 19 July 1939 – 14 January 2022) was a Soviet and Ukrainian politician, intelligence officer, and general who was Head of the Security Service of Ukraine from 22 Apr ...
, who headed the State Customs Committee and later the
Security Service of Ukraine
The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...
intelligence agency from 1998-2003.
[ Derkach was fired in 2001 for his alleged ]