Ukraine corruption scandal: String of officials resign in Kyiv

Several senior Ukrainian officials announced their resignations on Tuesday, following a damaging corruption scandal. 

Reports of corruption in Ukraine’s high offices broke over the weekend, surrounding illicit payments and over-inflated military contracts. 

Deputy Defence Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Kyrylo Tymoshenko and Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Simonenko are among the officials who have quit. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said personnel changes were being carried out at senior and lower levels, following the scandal. 

However, it could dampen Western enthusiasm for the Kyiv government, which has a long history of shaky governance.

Over the weekend, a Ukrainian newspaper investigation accused the Defence Ministry of signing off contracts to supply food to troops on the frontline at “two to three” times the regular price. 

The contract in question amounts to €320 million for 2023, according to the ZN.UA news site.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence has dismissed the allegations as false, claiming the reports are “deliberate manipulation”.

It warned it would open an investigation into the “dissemination” of “misleading” information, which “harms the interests of defence during a special period”.

Separately, anti-corruption police arrested the deputy infrastructure minister on suspicion of receiving a 367,000 euro kickback over the import of generators last September, an allegation the minister denies.

The supplier has claimed this was a mistake and no money had changed hands.

The scandals, which have sent shockwaves through Ukraine, come as European countries bicker over giving Kyiv German-made Leopard 2 tanks – the workhorse of armies across Europe.

Ukraine says it needs them to break through Russian lines and recapture territory, though some European officials have warned their delivery could escalate the conflict.

David Arakhamia, head of Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party, said officials should “focus on the war, help victims, cut bureaucracy and stop dubious business”.

“We’re definitely going to be jailing actively this spring. If the humane approach doesn’t work, we’ll do it in line with martial law,” he said.