Why is this immoral, irresponsible, and illegal?

In January 2025, the Ukrainian polygraph community learned about the National Association of Polygraph Examiners of Ukraine (NAPU), which since 2016 had existed only as an entry in the register of public organizations. That same month, the phantom organization, which does not have a single group photo of its own and therefore uses a photo from a conference of members of the All-Ukrainian Association of Polygraphologists (AAP) on its Facebook page, loudly announced the start of training for polygraph examiners.

As a result, they trained… They trained two groups of newly minted polygraph examiners to work with the Russian software “Sheriff.” And that’s not counting the “specialists” who, in cooperation with the MAUP, are tirelessly being trained by the same teachers in ‘distance’ courses by “Vedmid, Ishchuk, and Partners.”

Photo from the NAPU website: Yevgen Puchkov, head of the NAPU Training Center and chief curator of all organizational processes related to training, conducts “live observation and analysis” on the polygraph of the Russian software “Sheriff.”

You can’t hide a needle in a haystack, no matter how many advertising banners with screenshots of the Ukrainian software “Rubicon” you hang up in the office. All the graduates of the National Academy of Public Administration and “Vedmid, Ishchuk and Partners” have to do is go on social media, and they start showing photos with the Russian software “Sheriff.”

Photo from the NAPU website: the banner shows a screenshot of the Rubicon software, while the screen of the polygraph examiner course participant’s laptop shows the Russian Sheriff software.

Photo from the NAPU website, same picture: a screenshot of the Rubicon software on the banner, and the Russian Sheriff software on the screen of a polygraph examiner training course participant’s laptop.

Photo from the NAPU website: against the backdrop of NAPU advertising banners, a student learning how to use a polygraph on the Russian software “Sheriff.”

Photo from the NAPU website: students change, but the Russian software “Sheriff” on their laptop screens remains unchanged during practical training sessions on working with polygraphs.

Photo from social media: a graduate of the NAPU courses against the backdrop of NAPU advertising products and a laptop with Sheriff software.

For those interested in the background story with the Russian Sheriff, it was partially revealed in a public speech by the president of the VAP, Doctor of Psychology, certified forensic expert, and polygraph examiner with over 20 years of experience, Tetyana Morozova, in her speech at the 8th scientific and practical conference of the VAP, which was dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the creation of the public organization (2024). LINK TO MY WEBSITE.

In short, Ukraine entered the war in 2014 without its own polygraph: none of the research institutes of law enforcement agencies and special services had ever made a Ukrainian device. It was not possible to continue purchasing Russian polygraphs, and Western ones were expensive. Alexei Dubrovsky’s Rubicon polygraph saved the day, but the downside was that Rubicon did not have its own software and worked with the Russian Sheriff. This became the subject of well-founded criticism, to which we, Ukrainian users of Rubicon, were forced to respond: then throw away all Kalashnikov rifles and Makarov pistols, etc. At the same time, most of us ensured the protection of information obtained with the help of Sheriff software by not connecting our laptops to the Internet. And, of course, we desperately waited for the release of a working version of the Ukrainian Rubicon software. Since that happened, the VAP polygraph courses have been teaching exclusively the Ukrainian Rubicon software. The VAP has also opened a separate course for those who want to learn how to work with Rubicon software. The majority of VAP members switched to Ukrainian software in 2023-2024. Currently, the course is usually taken by polygraph examiners who work in private structures, had a forced break in their work, or had personal reasons that prevented them from changing software along with others.

Now let’s answer three questions in order: why teaching Russian software “Sheriff” in 2025 is immoral, irresponsible, and illegal.

It is immoral to teach Russian software in polygraph courses because:

– it is the result of the elementary inability of specifically and exclusively NAPU and “Vedmid, Ishchuk and Partners” to organize the educational process using Ukrainian software. They want money from students, but they have no desire to make an effort to earn it honestly, in accordance with existing requirements;

– it is fraud to lure students to courses with phrases such as “Ukrainian polygraph” and then actually teach them Russian software;

– teaching Russian software in Ukrainian polygraph courses in the 12th year of the Russian-Ukrainian war is the lowest point that the NAPU and “Vedmid, Ishchuk and Partners” have once again managed to reach.

It is irresponsible to teach polygraph examiners Russian software in courses because:

– it reinforces the narrative that Rubicon is a Russian device and harms its developer;

– it puts graduates of polygraph examiner courses at NAPU and “Vedmid, Ishchuk and Partners” in an awkward position, especially if they are Ukrainian patriots: it is difficult to convince someone of your patriotism when you work with Russian software when Ukrainian software is available;

– This is a disservice even to those graduates of the polygraph courses at the National Academy of Public Administration and “Vedmid, Ishchuk and Partners” who are not concerned with issues of patriotism — after all, the manufacturer of Rubicon has clearly stated that versions of Rubicon subsequent to 02 will not work with the Sheriff software.

It is illegal to teach Russian software in polygraph courses because:

– teaching Russian software contradicts the current requirements of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, which NAPU and “Vedmid, Ishchuk and Partners” are obliged to comply with when issuing documents licensed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to PJSC “Higher Educational Institution ”MAUP”;

– Russian software cannot be used to test people at state-owned enterprises. In particular, according to Article 27 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language,” state authorities, local self-government bodies, enterprises, institutions, and organizations of state and communal ownership shall use only computer programs with a user interface in the state language;

– It is illegal to test Russian software in the Armed Forces. No matter how much the National Agency for Public Education would like to make money from the Armed Forces and volunteer organizations, this is an indisputable fact.

This advertisement from the social media account of the National Agency for Civil Service Recruitment (NAPU) is about recruiting polygraph examiners to work in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with a background image of a Ukrainian soldier and Russian software called “Sheriff” displayed on a computer.