EDITORIAL: Corruption scandal weakens Ukraine

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Given that Canada has committed $22 billion in aid to Ukraine, the growing corruption scandal now reaching into President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office raises legitimate questions for taxpayers.

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Zelenskyy has not been named in the investigation nor accused of wrongdoing, and in no way are we suggesting it justifies Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

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But the growing scandal involving an alleged $100 million kickback scheme in Ukraine’s critical energy sector has already claimed his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, two cabinet ministers and Tymur Mindich, Zelenskyy’s former business partner, who is now on the run from Ukrainian authorities.

Yermak, widely considered the second-most powerful man in Ukraine, was leading its delegation in ongoing peace talks to end the war set off by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

His resignation was announced by Zelenskyy on Friday with Yermak issuing a statement saying he was fully cooperating with the joint investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

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Ukrainians, suffering from almost four years of war, are justifiably furious that while they were donating money to support Ukraine’s military, business and political insiders were allegedly engaged in kickback and money-laundering schemes to illegally profit from contracts meant to protect Ukraine’s power system from blackouts due to Russian air strikes.

This all comes at the worst possible time for the Ukrainian president, and the best possible time for Putin, as U.S. President Donald Trump attempts to negotiate an end to the war.

Putin and his henchmen will use the allegations to further his false claim that Zelenskyy’s government is “illegal”.

It also reinforces Ukraine’s pre-war reputation for widespread corruption, which the European Union has said must be addressed before Ukraine can join the EU.

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Zelenskyy was elected president in 2019 on a promise to end corruption, although some critics have since questioned his commitment to do so.

By contrast, the EU, UN and the G7 have praised Zelensky’s anti-corruption efforts to date.

The fact that two independent investigative agencies are pursuing the latest allegations into the highest levels of Zelenskyy’s administration suggests its prosecutorial system — while it may be imperfect — is working.

But that said, the ongoing scandal has weakened Zelenskyy’s position in the negotiations to end the war.

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