Corruption scandal, court battles pose test for Zelensky
KIEV
A major corruption scandal and mounting accusations that the Ukrainian presidency is using the judiciary to intimidate and silence critics has rocked Kiev, presenting a significant test for Volodymyr Zelensky almost four years into the Russian invasion.
Justice Minister German Galushchenko, a former energy minister, was suspended yesterday after being caught up in an investigation into one of Zelensky's top allies, who is accused of orchestrating a $100-million scheme to secure kickbacks from the power sector.
While Galushchenko denies any wrongdoing, the scandal has sparked anger as Ukraine's electricity grid is creaking under a barrage of attacks from Russia as the country heads into winter.
These challenges come at a critical time for Zelensky, who has remained popular and largely unchallenged since Russia invaded in 2022, with Moscow's forces advancing in the east.
It also shows how strained the tightrope that Ukraine has been forced to walk, between centralizing power to run the war and forging on with democratic reforms key to joining the EU, is becoming.
The latest case to trigger accusations that Zelensky's team is weaponizing the judicial system to intimidate critics was last month's arrest of Volodymyr Kudrytsky, who led national energy company Ukrenergo until 2024, on embezzlement accusations.
Kudrytsky and his backers reject the claims as retribution for criticizing Ukraine's strategy to defend the energy grid from Russian attacks.
"It's purely political. It couldn't happen without the involvement of the presidential office," Kudrytsky, currently on bail, told AFP, saying that he was being lined up as a scapegoat.
Kudrytsky has won some high-profile supporters.
Business ombudsman Roman Waschuk said the evidence "appears quite flimsy" and warned against "targeting people for simply performing their normal corporate functions."
Opposition lawmaker Inna Sovsun told AFP it was part of a strategy of using criminal investigations to silence people.
"So you know there is a case against you, and they will try to use it if you do something they don't like," she said.
Alongside the court cases, this week's allegations of a massive corruption scandal involving Timur Mindich, co-owner of the production company founded by the president, have fueled worries about the centralization of power amid the war.
Zelensky's office had this summer tried to strip the independence of the two agencies investigating and prosecuting the case: The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).
The dynamic presents a challenge to Brussels, which supports Ukraine's bid to join the bloc but is pressing Kiev to build on democratic reforms if it wants to join the bloc.
Activists have also pointed to other cases.
Zelensky's predecessor and political rival Petro Poroshenko was charged with corruption earlier this year, a move he denounced as politically motivated.
Odsea Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship over allegations, denied by him, that he possesses a Russian passport.
