Ukraine Holds Chief Justice in Bribery Case.

"Ukraine detained its top judge over an alleged $2.7 million bribe as it seeks to show its citizens and Western backers that have poured billions into it that it can clamp down on high-level corruption.

The detention of Chief Justice Vsevolod Knyazev is one of the most significant cases in the history of Ukraine's patchy efforts to root out widespread graft that for years has corroded its economy and trust in Western capitals. Mr. Knyazev didn't comment.

The move comes as the mounting costs of subsidizing Ukraine have raised complaints in Washington and elsewhere. In the U.S., which is providing the bulk of the financial and military aid, Republican members of Congress have raised concerns about corruption as part of a critique of the Biden administration's support for Ukraine.

The head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said the case, which isn't directly related to the billions that the West has poured into Ukraine, demonstrated authorities' commitment to pursuing high-level wrongdoers.

"We are showing through real cases, real deeds, what our priority is: It's top corruption, it's criminal organizations at the highest levels of power," said NABU chief Semen Kryvonos.

NABU said Mr. Knyazev and one other unnamed person were detained on suspicion of receiving the payoff for ruling in favor of a company owned by Kostyantyn Zhevago, one of Ukraine's richest men.

Mr. Zhevago was arrested in France at Ukraine's request in December on suspicion of embezzlement and money laundering, but France in March ruled against his extradition to Ukraine. NABU didn't publicly name Mr. Zhevago. It said the scheme at the court was connected to the owner of Finance and Credit, a company Mr. Zhevago owns. He denied wrongdoing.

NABU said an undercover agent and wiretaps allowed it to document illegal payments. A photo released by NABU showed stacks of hundred-dollar bills lined up on a sofa.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to power in 2019 on a pledge to root out deep corruption, but progress has been uneven. Last year, Ukraine ranked 116th out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by Transparency International, a nonprofit organization based in Berlin.

In recent months, Mr. Zelensky has fired nearly a dozen senior officials in connection with alleged bribery and embezzlement of public funds. But high-profile scandals, including one involving the Defense Ministry allegedly paying inflated amounts to suppliers of food for the army, have hobbled his campaign.

Anticorruption activists in Ukraine have said the country has made progress, but corrupt practices persist." [1]

 

It seems that our Ukrainian friends are as corrupt as our friends that we recently had in Afghanistan. Remember those Afghani blocks with hundred dollars bills? Why are we always getting entangled with losers in corrupt places? Bad luck or something else? 

1. World News: Ukraine Holds Chief Justice in Bribery Case. Luxmoore, Matthew. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 17 May 2023: A.8.