Corruption Started Everything, Corruption Is Ending Everything: A 2015 comedy that portrayed then-actor Volodymyr Zelensky as an everyman propelled to the Presidency of Ukraine by a viral anti-corruption social media video rant, which in turn carried Zelensky into real-life politics.

 “Ukraine peace negotiations may be disrupted as Kyiv’s lead negotiator was raided by Ukrainian anti-corruption police on Friday morning, apparently in relation to an increasingly widespread nuclear energy kickbacks scheme.

 

Officers from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) raided property associated with Andriy Yermak on Friday morning. Yermak is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff, one of the President’s closest allies and confidants, and is the lead negotiator in the present round of peace talks.

 

The anti-corruption bureau published a statement confirming the raid had taken place and that investigations were ongoing at a Kyiv address, but made no specific allegations against Yermak.

 

Yermak himself said in a separate statement that he cooperating with the investigation. He said: “Today, NABU and SAPO are indeed conducting procedural actions at my home. There are no obstacles for the investigators. They were provided with full access to the apartment, on site – my lawyers, who are interacting with the law enforcement officers.”

 

While no specific allegations have been levelled, the raid is understood to be linked to a now wide-ranging investigation into a multi-million-dollar kickbacks scheme embezzling funds from Energatom, the Ukrainian state nuclear energy company. Two ministers from President Zelensky’s government have already resigned over the scandal and another top Zelensky ally — Rustem Umerov, Zelensky’s national security adviser — has been questioned.

 

A further close ally to President Zelensky, his long-time business partner Timur Mindich, was implicated as the architect of the Energatom kickbacks scheme but has already fled the country. Mindich was the co-owner of Zelensky’s television production company which created Servant of the People, a 2015 comedy that portrayed then-actor Volodymyr Zelensky as an everyman propelled to the Presidency of Ukraine by a viral anti-corruption social media video rant, which in turn carried Zelensky into real-life politics.

 

The New York Times reports what’s left of Ukraine’s political opposition has recently called on Yermak to resign over his proximity to the unfolding scandal. He was also instrumental in the recent failed attempt to bring Ukraine’s anti-corruption offices under the direct control of the president’s office, which Yermak runs. The plan was met with rare wartime protests in Ukraine and eventually had to be shelved.

 

Corruption is a persistent issue for Ukraine and is one of the areas identified by the European Union as requiring major progress before the country can be admitted as a member state. As reported in 2023, Brussels said Ukraine “belongs” to the Union, but the path to membership would not be a short one.

 

In a progress report on membership, the Union advised Ukraine to appoint more officers and judges to its counter-corruption bureaus, to fully implement the graft laws it already has on the books, and to improve accountability of the corruption prosecutor. In 2023 Ukraine was said to be “weak” on organised crime” and suffered from “widespread corruption” in law enforcement.

 

Even before the present crackdown on the Energatom kickbacks scheme, arrest by corruption police has been a relatively common occurrence in Ukrainian government over the course of the past few years. As reported in 2024 a land scheme saw the nation’s farm minister detained. Prior to that, it was stated the defence minister, the country’s top prosecutor, intelligence chief, and other senior officials had been sacked over corruption concerns.”