The Ukrainian authorities announced arrests on Saturday as part of a “large -scale corruption system” that involves political leaders in the defense sector, shortly after an uproar about the independence of anti -corruption organizations.
A law, approved at the end of July, planned to place the National Anti -Corruption Agency (NABU) and the Office of the Anti -Corruption Prosecutor (SAP) under the supervision of the Attorney General, himself appointed by the Head of State.
“A large -scale corruption system”
This legislation had been very seriously received by civil society and the European Union, causing the first important demonstrations in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022.
President Volodymyr Zelensky finally returned and promulgated on Thursday a new law that restored the independence of these structures.
The National Agency against Corruption announced on Saturday that it had discovered, in cooperation with the office of the corruption prosecutor, a “large -scale corruption system that involves a member of the Parliament in the acquisition of drones and electronic warfters.”
Local political leaders and members of the National Guard are accused of getting involved.
Four people were arrested, the agency said, without specifying their functions or identities. Volodymyr Zelensky, in a separate statement, said he was “grateful to the anti -corruption agencies for his work.”
“It is important that anti -corruption institutions operate independently, and the law adopted on Thursday guarantees all the necessary tools for a true fight against corruption,” he said.
Before the first political crisis, it would be since the beginning of his mandate six years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky had tried for the first time to defend the initial text accusing the structures related to ineffectiveness and be under the “Russian influence.” Then he claimed to have “heard” the protesters, proposing a new text praised by the Nabu and the SAP.
An endemic evil in the country
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, several corruption cases, an endemic evil in the country, have broken within the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense.
The members of the National Guard suspected of being involved in this case of corruption have been suspended, said Interior Minister Igor Klymenko. According to the investigation, from 2024 to 2025, the defendant diverted public funds for the needs of the army.
This referred to the purchase of small FPV drones “(” First person view “, or” subjective view “in French) and radioelectronic war systems, according to the NABU.
Source: BFM TV
