Ukraine anti-corruption agency tries to raid parliament

KYIV - Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency said security services were preventing officers from raiding the parliament on Dec 27, as investigators said some MPs were implicated in a new graft probe.

Ukraine was embroiled in a string of corruption scandals that led to the resignation of the chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
They also revealed a US$100 million (S$128 million) kickback scheme in the battered energy sector, masterminded by an alleged personal friend of the president.

“NABU (National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine) and SAPO (Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office), following an undercover operation, exposed an organised criminal group that included current members of parliament,” NABU said.

“Employees of the State Security Department are resisting NABU officers during investigative actions in committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” it added, referring to Ukraine’s parliament.

The anti-corruption agency did not reveal details related to the investigation.

Journalists from Ukrainska Pravda media outlet Mykhailo Tkach said in a social media post that detectives were allowed into the government quarters.

The investigation became public as Mr Zelensky departed for talks in the US about efforts to formulate a plan to end the war in Ukraine, and after Russia sent scores of drones and missiles against the capital Kyiv, killing one and wounding dozens.

The corruption scandals have triggered widespread public anger at a time when Russia is hammering Ukraine’s power grid, causing blackouts and threatening winter heating outages.

They also come at a sensitive moment for Mr Zelensky, when he is trying to negotiate better conditions for Ukraine in the US-brokered peace talks, amid the mounting Russian offensive. AFP