President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed two cabinet ministers Wednesday as authorities expanded an investigation into an alleged $100 million corruption scheme linked to a former associate, deepening public frustration with Kyiv’s wartime leadership.
Anti-corruption authorities said this week they had detained five people and identified two others still at large, suspected of involvement in the alleged plot to control procurement at nuclear agency Energoatom and other state enterprises.
Ukraine's biggest wartime graft scandal comes as Kyiv's outmanned and underequipped troops are struggling to fend off grinding Russian advances on the battlefield.
Zelenskyy, whose former business associate from his comedy career is among the suspects, said in a video address that corruption in the energy sector – weakened by regular Russian airstrikes on infrastructure – was "absolutely unacceptable."
Shortly after his remarks, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko submitted a request for parliament to dismiss Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and Justice Minister German Galushchenko, Hrynchuk's predecessor in the post.
Galushchenko has not been identified as one of the seven suspects announced this week, but a former advisor of Galushchenko's has been. He has denied wrongdoing.
Galushchenko's voice was among those heard in a recorded conversation with some of the suspects in the case that was released by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The minister did not respond to a Reuters request for additional comment.
Hrynchuk said earlier said she had submitted her resignation. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Svyrydenko, in a post issued later on Telegram, said her government had taken measures to remove other Energoatom officials, including a vice president, the finance and legal director and a senior procurement official.
The probe by anti-corruption body NABU, details of which have been incrementally released in sleekly produced videos featuring the lead detective, is the latest revelation of alleged graft that has plagued Ukraine's wartime government.
Showing progress in fighting corruption is central to Kyiv's bid for membership in the European Union, which officials consider key to escaping Moscow's influence.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, speaking at a G7 meeting in Canada, told Reuters the scandal was "extremely unfortunate". She said Ukrainian authorities were "acting very forcefully."
Accusations of kickbacks in the energy sector are particularly sensitive among Ukrainians, who are facing daily power outages ahead of winter as a result of massive Russian attacks on infrastructure.
It could also dampen enthusiasm among donors who have provided critical assistance to Ukraine's hobbled energy sector.
Speaking on local television, lawmaker Serhiy Nahorniak, a member of parliament's energy committee, said he had already been contacted by donors refusing to provide a transformer for Ukraine's battered Sumy region.
"Having read the news, they said, 'We think you can afford more than one transformer,'" he told the Kyiv24 channel, without specifying who the donors were.
Earlier this year, Zelenskyy tried to limit the powers of Ukraine's anti-corruption authorities, but rowed back on those changes after rare street protests and an outcry from European partners.
Political opponents accused him of trying to scuttle the activities of corruption-fighting bodies to protect his associates, which Zelenskyy strongly denies.
One of the seven suspects identified by prosecutors is Timur Mindich. He is a co-owner of the influential Kvartal 95 television studio, which produced the popular sitcom that brought Zelenskyy to fame as a comedian before he launched his political career by running for president in 2019.
Mindich did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to Kvartal 95. In a statement on Wednesday, the company said it had legal ties to Mindich as a co-owner, but that he did not influence its content and the reported allegations involving him were unrelated to the company's activities.
Valeriy Pekar, a prominent public intellectual, wrote on Facebook that "a Pandora's Box" was now open that would likely produce more shocking revelations.
"The authorities are still underestimating the scale of the problem and are trying to slow it down," he said. "This is a mistake." (Additional reporting by Anastasiia Malenko Editing by Alex Richardson, Peter Graff, Frances Kerry, Ron Popeski and David Gregorio)
