Russia-Ukraine War: Kyiv Authorities Uncover Cash in Supreme Court Corruption Investigation

This week, Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities announced that they were investigating large-scale corruption in the country’s Supreme Court system. The authorities also shared a photo showing the amounts of cash that were found as part of the investigation.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine announced on Monday that they were launching a large-scale anti-corruption investigation into the Ukrainian Supreme Court system. While NABU did not name anyone being accused of corruption, two local media outlets reported that Ukrainian Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniaziev was detained on suspicion of taking a $3 billion bribe.

The authorities posted a photo of piles of dollars on a sofa on its Facebook page, saying that the discovery of cash followed investigations by NABU and the office of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor.

“NABU and SAP have exposed large-scale corruption in the Supreme Court namely a scheme for the leadership and judges of the Supreme Court to receive bribes,” said NABU in the post. “Emergency investigative actions are underway.”

This announcement comes as the European Union has made tackling corruption a requirement for Ukraine to be able to join the bloc. Despite making progress in recent years, Ukraine still ranks 116 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International.

Local news outlets Dzerkalo Tyzhnia and Ukrayinska Pravda both cited officials saying that Kniaziev was detained but did not reveal further details. Dzerkalo Tyzhnia said that the money reportedly came from the backers of Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Zhevago, who was arrested in France in December on charges of embezzlement at Kyiv’s request.

Meanwhile, the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have agreed to put together an international coalition to provide Ukraine with fighter jets as Kyiv has long sought to acquire the modern F-16 jets after securing pledges of the Leopard battle tanks to use on the ground. A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the agreement with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was made following a meeting at the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.

Sunak’s spokesperson said he reiterated that Ukraine has a place in the NATO alliance and the importance of allies providing Kyiv with long-term security assistance.

Photo: Max Kukurudziak/Unsplash(CC by 2.0)