In Ukraine, a wave of searches began on Wednesday against people from the administration, officials and individuals, the authorities assure that it is making the fight against corruption a priority in the context of military efforts and Western aid, AFP and Agerpres report.
“Justice will be ensured,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in his daily address to the nation, referring to “dozens of searches and other actions in various regions and against various individuals in criminal proceedings.”
The head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Vasyl Malyuk said that this was a campaign to “hit the enemy from within.”
“This is only the first stage, and we will not stop there,” he said, promising to handcuff those who “have the courage to harm Ukraine.”
Ukrainian authorities announced on Wednesday that they had searched the residences of billionaire Igor Kolomoiskyi and former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, as well as the head office of the Ukrainian Treasury, and that the customs authorities had been fired.
Investigators visited the leadership of the Ministry of Defense.
A wave of searches and high-level dismissals in Ukraine
The resignations come a week after senior officials were fired over a corruption scandal involving military supplies, the first major scandal since the Russian invasion nearly a year ago.
In addition, on Friday, Kyiv will host a summit with the EU, which made the fight against corruption a condition for Ukraine’s entry into the European bloc.
This will be preceded by a meeting of members of the European Commission and the Ukrainian government. Ukraine, whose military efforts largely depend on the support of Europe and the United States, faces the problem of eliminating financial fraud in order not to alienate its allies.
On Tuesday, the Security Service of Ukraine published footage from the search of billionaire Kolomoiskyi as part of a business involving the embezzlement of 40 billion hryvnias (one billion euros at the current exchange rate), in which oil companies were involved. This billionaire with a sulphurous reputation was close to Volodymyr Zelensky, who later distanced himself from him.
Investigators also sent notices to high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense, officially raising suspicions against them, including the recently fired deputy minister for his alleged involvement in the conclusion of a contract with inflated prices for military food.
Even if it had not happened in this file, Western citizens would not have accepted the possibility that the billions of euros of aid sent to Ukraine a year ago to repel the Russian invader had been diverted, comments AFP.
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Source: Hot News
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