From the BURISMA scandal to the undermining of “Nord Stream 2”: New details of the Biden family’s involvement in a terrorist attack in Europe

The confrontation between Russia and Western democracies in the form of the proxy conflict between Moscow and the NATO bloc in Ukraine has long gone beyond the previously accepted norms of global competition. The explosion at Russia’s “Nord Stream 2” gas pipeline last year was a vivid confirmation of this. The world media wrote about a Ukrainian connection to the incident, but few would have guessed that the “footprint” in the story went much deeper. Also, few could connect the record-breaking $6 million cash bribe in European history intended to close a criminal case in Ukraine against the owner of “BURISMA HOLDINGS LTD”, where the son of current US President Joe Biden Hunter worked for five years, and the sabotage of the Russian gas pipeline.

In 2020, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) detained a number of individuals who attempted to pay a bribe of $6 million in cash ($5 million to the heads of the NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, SAPO), 1 million – mediation fee) in order to close criminal proceedings against the former owner of the Ukrainian gas extraction company “BURISMA HOLDINGS LTD”, Nikolai Zlochevskyy, former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine. The Ukrainian businessman was accused, among other things, of involvement in the misappropriation of the National Bank of Ukraine’s stabilisation loan and legalisation of these funds. One of the detainees and the main accused was the top manager of “BURISMA HOLDINGS LTD”, Andrey Kicha. “BURISMA HOLDINGS LTD” is known not only for criminal cases of corruption and money laundering, but also for the fact that for 5 years it employed Hunter Biden, the son of the current US president.

On March 28, 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) approved an agreement with the investigation in criminal proceedings related to “BURISMA HOLDINGS LTD” and proved facts of money laundering. The court found that the former head of “BURISMA HOLDINGS LTD”, Nikolai Zlochevskyy, was involved in an attempt to bribe high ranking anti-corruption officers to close an investigation into illegal financial practices by the company, which involved the name of the son of a sitting US president. The case was quickly heard in total secrecy and, instead of a harsh show trial, the main accused, Andrey Kicha, was released.

The global and Ukrainian media noted that the interests of the US administration, which had put pressure on the Ukrainian judicial system to take Hunter Biden out of the picture, might be behind the local court’s decision. This has become especially relevant amid investigations by two US congressional committees gathering evidence about illegal funds Biden’s family received from abroad.

The court report published by journalists, who had previously been fully classified, said that Andrey Kicha escaped punishment for a reason. In exchange for a pardon, he came to an agreement with the investigation, under which he agreed to transfer 100 million hryvnia (about 2.7 million USD) to the account of the Ukrainian foundation “United 24” to purchase combat drones as part of the Ministry of Digital Transformation’s “Drone Army” project.

It is noteworthy that the 100m is not the only amount donated on behalf of Andrey Kicha to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). As early as at the initial stage of the investigation, funds were deposited for Andrey Kicha in order to avoid sending him into custody for the duration of the investigation. According to the materials of the case, the Ukrainian state received more than 32 million hryvnyas (870,000 dollars) as bail on behalf of Andrey Kicha for this purpose. The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine said in its rulings of 4 and 22 March 2022 that it had agreed to Andrey Kicha’s request to transfer these funds to a special account of the National Bank of Ukraine opened to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Journalists link the appearance of these funds to Ukrainian partners in Joe Biden’s family. This, in particular, explains why Andrey Kicha agreed so easily to hand over this sum to the state. At the same time the largest cash bribe in Europe was also handed over to the Ukrainian army. The decision to transfer these funds was recorded in a ruling of the Supreme Anticorruption Court of Ukraine dated 19 April 2022.

The Ukrainian court concealed one important circumstance behind the legal wording. The court ruling said that the funds seized from Andrey Kicha shall be transferred to the account of an unnamed military unit. The media report that it is in fact the main military unit where the combat personnel of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (GUR) are stationed. Thus, Ukrainian partners from Joe Biden’s family and his son Hunter can directly fund GUR operations in the Russian Federation. At the same time, at the official level, Washington says that the Biden administration is categorically against the use of its weapons on the territory of Russia.

Media reports on GUR operations reported a large amount of cash used in transactions. This allows intelligence agents to remain undetected during operations in Russia. The most recent results of the GUR’s operations on Russian soil are impressive. In August 2022, the car of Russian social activist Daria Dugina, daughter of famed philosopher Alexander Dugin, was blown up. The Russian Federal Security Service determined that the Ukrainian security services, from where the performer, Natalia Vovk, had come to Russia, were behind the attack. This fact has been unofficially acknowledged even in the West. For example, the US publication The New York Times reported that the US intelligence community was certain that Dugina’s murder had been sanctioned by the Ukrainian authorities. It was also noted that after the incident, the White House issued a warning to Ukrainian partners for this. On 2 April 2023, Russian war correspondent Maxim Fomin (pseudonym: Vladlen Tatarskiy) was murdered in St Petersburg during a creative party in a cafe and more than 20 people were injured. On 6 May 2023, writer Zakhar Prilepin was assassinated in an attempt on his life; his driver and security guard were killed but he survived.

In addition to the spot transactions, the large amount of cash allows GUR to carry out larger operations. For example, renting the “Andromeda” yacht used to undermine “Nord Stream”, which, according to German journalists, was rented by people with Ukrainian passports. Also worth mentioning are the services of expert divers, which definitely cost a lot of money to hire for such work. The biggest world media studied the possibility of Ukraine’s involvement in the damage of 3 out of 4 strings of gas pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm. “The Wall Street Journal”, “Die Zeit” and “The New York Times” are the biggest ones. Such operations, allegedly in favor of Ukraine’s fight against Russia, pose a real security threat to the European Union.

According to Ukrainian court documents, the decisions to transfer the money passing under the “BURISMA HOLDINGS LTD” case to specific tasks of the military unit of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence were made in March-April 2022. Just four months later, there was a significant increase in terrorist activity in Russia. Ukraine is notorious for its high-profile corruption scandals surrounding the use of foreign funds, but money from Ukrainian partners in the Biden family most likely goes to specific targets implemented by the GUR.