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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
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Efrem Lukatsky / AP
In a series of raids in the fight against corruption in their own country, Ukrainian security officials also searched the home of billionaire entrepreneur Ihor Kolomoisky.
"Any criminal who has the audacity to harm Ukraine especially in times of war must understand that we will put handcuffs on him," said the Telegram channel of Ukraine's internal intelligence service SBU.
The SBU published pictures of the house search at Kolomojskyj.
Accordingly, it is said to be about the misappropriation of 40 billion Ukrainian hryvnia (equivalent to around one billion euros) in the oil industry.
Kolomoisky, who has denied wrongdoing, once owned shares in two suspected conglomerates.
The 59-year-old did not initially comment on the current allegations.
Kolomojskyj, one of the richest men in Ukraine, has been on a US sanctions list since 2021 and has enjoyed a dubious reputation for years.
He owns a number of companies, including one of the country's most influential television networks.
In 2019, Kolomoiskyi supported the election campaign of current President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the presidential election.
The two remained close friends for a while, later Selenskyj distanced himself from Kolomojskyj.
At the end of 2021, just a few months before the Russian armed forces invaded, Zelensky's government took action against influential oligarchs in Ukraine.
However, Zelenskyy was accused of not being able to take decisive action against his former supporter.
The current corruption investigations have been ongoing since last year.
In the course of this, the 59-year-old's house was also searched.
Dismissed the head of the customs authority
The leader of Zelenskyi's Servant of the People party, Davyd Arakhamiya, wrote in online services that the house of Arsen Avakov, who was Interior Minister in charge of the Ukrainian police from 2014 to 2021, was also searched.
In addition, the management of the customs authority had been dismissed.
High-ranking representatives of the Ministry of Defense also received visits from investigators.
The investigations into former Interior Minister Avakov are said to revolve around the helicopter crash in mid-January in which Avakov's successor as Interior Minister, Denys Monastyrskyj, died.
During the search, "the contracts with Airbus from six years ago were looked at," Avakov told Ukrajinska Pravda.
The accident helicopter comes from the French manufacturer Airbus.
The contracts for the purchase had been concluded under Avakov.
Before the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began almost a year ago, the country had been regularly shaken by corruption scandals.
Before the war began, the country was ranked 122 out of 180 on Transparency International's corruption index.
Last week, several deputy ministers, governors and high-ranking officials resigned or were dismissed as a result of an alleged corruption scandal in the Ukrainian army.
The reason for the wave of layoffs was, among other things, the allegation made in Ukrainian media reports that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had bought food for the soldiers in the hinterland at significantly inflated prices.
hope for EU membership
The new raids came a few days before the EU summit, at which Ukraine is expected to ask for concrete perspectives for membership.
Fighting corruption in the country is one of Brussels' most important demands for the accession that Kyiv is striving for.
With a view to the summit on Friday, President Zelenskyy hinted at further anti-corruption measures in his evening speech: "We are preparing new reforms in Ukraine," he said.
»Reforms that will change social, legal and political reality in many ways, making it more human, more transparent and more effective.«
sak/AFP/Reuters