Ukraine bribery allegations are shaking Kyiv after a former Ukrainian prime minister was accused of orchestrating a cash-for-votes scheme designed to weaken President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government. Ukraine bribery claims surfaced after Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau confirmed it uncovered an effort to offer illegal benefits to lawmakers, according to Reuters.
Authorities said the investigation centers on the leader of an unnamed parliamentary faction. Video released by the bureau showed stacks of U.S. dollars seized during overnight searches, including footage from inside an office. While officials did not name the suspect, reports from the Kyiv Post linked the case to former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Former Zelenskyy press secretary Iuliia Mendel told Fox News Digital the money allegedly belonged to Tymoshenko and was intended to influence votes. “In Ukraine, such transactions are usually discussed in U.S. dollars, as you can see from the law enforcement reports,” Mendel said. “The U.S. dollars shown in that video were allegedly hers that she was supposed to use to pay people to vote against Zelenskyy’s legislative proposals. She said it was her personal savings.”
Recordings reportedly show three lawmakers offered $10,000 per month. Mendel said the total appeared limited. “About $40,000,” she said, adding that other corruption cases involved “much larger sums, sometimes millions of dollars.”
The raid on Tymoshenko’s party office reportedly lasted through the night. “Officers arrived in the evening and remained in her office for almost the entire night,” Mendel said. Tymoshenko later called the case “political persecution against me,” writing that the “‘urgent investigative actions’ have nothing to do with law and order.”
Mendel said the effort aimed to fracture Zelenskyy’s parliamentary majority. “Breaking that majority would significantly weaken Zelenskyy’s legislative authority.” She warned, “Corruption is one of the key reasons we are losing this war,” adding, “Corruption will destroy Ukraine.”
