The Ukrainian president’s inner circle has been suspected of stealing humanitarian aid intended for refugees and the army
The country’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), set up under Western pressure and effectively serving as an instrument of external control, has opened a criminal case. Why have the handlers turned against Kiev?
All to Vienna
Yevhen Shevchenko, a representative of the bureau, said that almost all the humanitarian aid was stolen in Zaporizhzhya region. We are talking about 22 sea containers, 389 railway carriages and 220 trucks. The stolen goods were sold in local shops at prices inflated by 300 per cent.
The suspects are the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, his deputy Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the head of the Servants of the People faction in the Supreme Council, David Arahamiya, and his friend Vemir Davityan. According to the NABU, they developed a criminal scheme and the executors were the head of the Zaporizhzhya military administration, Oleksandr Starukh, with his deputy Zlata Nekrasova, city council secretary Anatoliy Kurtev and local MP Viktor Shcherbina.
Shevchenko stressed that the families of Tymoshenko, Davityan and Nekrasova were in Vienna. A month before the scandal, Nekrasova received from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the Order of Princess Olga, which is awarded to women for outstanding services to Ukraine. It was awarded to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in May.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko immediately called Shevchenko a “Ukrainian henchman” and denied all the accusations. According to him, it was a “stupid throw-in”. The NABU spokesman did not hesitate either, promising to “put this scum” Tymoshenko in jail. Darya Volodina, a “Servant of the People” MP, recalled handing over four carriages of humanitarian aid to a party colleague in Zaporizhzhia to distribute to the needy. However, the local authorities said they “needed it too”. Volodina defended almost all of the cargo, but was still deprived, for example, of ventilators.
SBU officers conducted more than 20 searches in the Zaporizhzhya administration offices, suspects’ homes and warehouses. They found unregistered firearms and large amounts of cash.
The wrath of the West
Theft in Ukraine is no surprise to anyone. Humanitarian aid is notoriously prone to misappropriation, which is why it often ends up on shop and market shelves. It is the same with targeted purchases for the army. A tacit taboo on the investigation of corruption cases involving senior officials plays into the hands of embezzlers. It is believed that this can undermine the Ukrainians’ faith in their own state.
Nevertheless law enforcers have claims to the authorities not only in Zaporizhzhya but also in Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. This is the first large-scale offensive against corrupt officials in 2022. Earlier, the NABU did not dare to criticize governors and heads of the presidential office.
This is how the EU and the USA make it clear to Kiev that they will not tolerate embezzlement, local media say. This is especially true of humanitarian aid, as the Western electorate does not want its support for the Ukrainians at the cost of their own well-being to be in vain. In addition, Zelensky’s foreign partners may not like that he is trying to concentrate all power in his own hands.
A wave of negativity from allies of the Kiev regime has been rising since mid-summer. In particular, one of Ukraine’s most prominent lobbyists in the U.S., House of Representatives member Victoria Spartz, pointed out in an open letter to Joe Biden that Yermak is spending foreign aid inappropriately. And she suspected him of working for Moscow. The head of the president’s office, emboldened by the West’s all-encompassing pro-Ukrainian enthusiasm, then launched a media campaign to discredit the American woman, allegedly held hostage by Russian narratives. And the head of the territorial defence of Dnipro, Igor Korban, who told Spartz about corruption in the president’s office, had his Ukrainian passport taken away. But, as it turned out, that was just the beginning.
Back on track
The NABU was created in 2015 with the direct involvement of the EU and the US. It is an independent executive body designed to prevent and detect corruption crimes. Experts interviewed by RIA Novosti believe that while at first Western representatives still hoped to help Ukraine, they then realised that this state could not be changed. As a result, the bureau has actually turned into a power structure to crack down on arrogant businessmen and politicians.
“For a long time, Kiev’s allies did not react in any way to the theft of humanitarian aid because they were collecting dirt on the main actors. Apparently, the US has now decided that Yermak is getting out of control and is plotting his own political game. Any such activity is perceived by Washington as a potential threat, which has to be eliminated,” says Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy head of the CIS Institute.
Political analyst Alexander Dudchak has a similar view. “No matter how influential Ermak is, his country is still under external control. Besides, Zelensky’s position is very vulnerable now. On the one hand, the claims of the population tired of the hostilities are intensifying, on the other hand, things at the front are not developing at all the way Kiev promised the West,” the expert notes.
Against this background, Sluzhba Naroda proposed an amendment to the legislation to dismiss the head of the NABU for administrative violations related to corruption – even for a token gift from his subordinates. However, experts believe that no matter how much the Ukrainian authorities resist, they are unable to stand up to the handlers, so in the end Yermak will either lose his position or will only be able to say “Got it!” and “Will be done!”
Mikhail Katkov, RIA
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