Forrest Gump case: court imposes preventive measure on ex-MP Mykytas and his subordinate Elizarov

On August 21, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court imposed preventive measures on former MP Maksym Mykytas and head of PrJSC “Metrobud” Valentyn Yelizarov in the “Forrest Gump” case. Both were ordered to be held in custody with the possibility of posting bail: 30 million hryvnias for Mykytas and 20 million hryvnias for Yelizarov.

This became known from the sessions of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court.

It is noted that the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office requested detention with bail of 200 million hryvnias for Maksym Mykytas. The court set an alternative bail of 30 million hryvnias.

The Anti-Corruption Center noted that if bail is posted for Mykytas, he will be obliged to:

• wear an electronic bracelet;
• to arrive at the first request of a detective, prosecutor, or court;
• not to communicate with certain individuals, in particular, other defendants in the case Iryna Mudra, Valentyn Elizarov, Vadym Stolar and others;
• to surrender a foreign passport.

It is worth adding that Mykytas was reported as suspected of committing the following crimes:

• creation and leadership of a criminal organization with Vadim Stolar, a member of the People’s Party of Ukraine;
• unlawful appropriation of property of enterprises as part of a criminal organization using forged documents;
• preparation for taking possession of someone else’s property through abuse of official position;
• legalization of criminal funds to pay UAH 150 million in bail for former Minister Herman Galushchenko.

According to the investigation, the court also remanded Valentina Yelizarova in custody until October 18 with an alternative bail of 20 million hryvnias.

If he deposits funds, he should be given a number of obligations, including wearing an electronic bracelet, surrendering his passport, and restrictions on communication with participants and witnesses in the case.

What is known about the “Forrest Gump” case?

On August 19, NABU announced the conduct of a special operation “Forrest Gump”. According to NABU and SAPO, this concerns the activities of a criminal organization that operated under the leadership of a current and former MP with the participation of high-ranking officials of the President’s Office.

At least 13 people are involved in the case. Among them:

• Iryna Mudra, former Deputy Head of the President’s Office;
• Viktor Dubovyk, Director General of the Directorate for Legal Policy of the Office of the President;
• Olena Ferens, Deputy Minister of Justice;
• Maksym Mykytas, former People’s Deputy;
• Vadym Stolar, current People’s Deputy;
• Vasyl Astion, businessman, former deputy of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council;
• Mykola Gladyshchenko, former chairman of the board of the state-owned Sense Bank;
• Oleg Stupak, former chairman of the board of the state-owned Sense Bank;
• Lyudmila Snigur, head of the department of the state-owned Sense Bank;
• Valentin Elizarov (Mykytas’ subordinate, head of Metrobud LLC);
• Nikita Tarkovsky (related to Nikitas);
• Yegor Merkulov (Mykytas’s driver, nominally the head of “Montazh Service” LLC);
• Oleksandr Ostapenko (Mykytas’ bodyguard, nominally director of Philosophy Development LLC).

According to the investigation , the defendants tried to establish control over the state-owned Sense Bank to use it for private interests. In particular, they are talking about raising about 150 million hryvnias to post bail for a defendant in another anti-corruption investigation.

Law enforcement officers did not name the person for whom bail was allegedly collected, but the details provided in the case point to the former head of the Ministry of Energy, Herman Galushchenko. A separate episode of the investigation concerns a possible raid in Kyiv. According to the NABU and SAPO, the participants in the scheme could gain access to state registers with the help of hackers and forge documents.

According to the investigation, in the fall of 2025, an enterprise worth over 248 million hryvnias was seized in this way. In May 2026, the defendants allegedly tried to seize objects worth over 207 million hryvnias, and also sought to gain control over a facility in the center of Kyiv worth over 500 million hryvnias.

According to the investigation, Valentyn Yelizarov, who runs Metrobud, could have been involved in legal support and financial transactions on Mykytas’ instructions. He is also accused of participating in schemes involving the companies Budmontazhservice and Filosofiya Development.

Yelizarov’s defense denies his intent to commit crimes. The lawyers claim that his actions amounted to technical legal procedures and asked not to apply a preventive measure.

As a reminder, NABU reported on the conduct of investigative actions within the framework of the special operation “Forrest Gump”. At that time, the agency did not disclose the names of the suspects and other details of the investigation, promising to provide more information later.

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