«They might kill me»: former ambassador to Cyprus Serhiy Nezhynskyi accused Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha

«They might kill me»: former ambassador to Cyprus Serhiy Nezhynskyi accused Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha

Former Ukrainian Ambassador to the Republic of Cyprus Serhiy Nezhynskyi (2025–2026) stated that he could be killed on the orders of Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.

According to the diplomat, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Oleksandr Karasevych insisted on appointing Cypriot citizen Ellines Christodoulos as consul. Nezhytskyi accused Christodoulos, his kum — former ambassador Ruslan Nimchynskyi — and security officer Yaroslav Belozorov of running a criminal scheme.

He said he had submitted a complaint to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention via the Foreign Ministry, after which his wife began receiving threats from the individuals mentioned. The diplomat then turned to the police.

Nezhynskyi unsuccessfully tried to contact Minister Sybiha. In a conversation with Karasevych, he concluded that Christodoulos’s appointment had been a personal instruction from the foreign minister.

On July 11, his term expired and he was due to return to Ukraine. However, according to him, the intelligence services of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, and Italy warned him to urgently change his flight: an abduction was allegedly planned in retaliation for his opposition to Christodoulos’s activities.

«If anything happens to me, the blood of my elimination will be on the hands of Foreign Minister Mr. Sybiha, who did not protect my family. Let me be the first and the last. But let everyone learn about corruption in the Foreign Ministry, all the schemes, and all the names», — Nezhynskyi said.

At a meeting of the Temporary Investigative Commission, he asked the president for protection and security.