Anticorruption agencies arrest four suspects after government forced to backtrack on push to strip them of autonomy.
Ukrainian authorities have detained several officials over a “large-scale corruption scheme” in the defence sector, just days after lawmakers restored the independence of the country’s two main investigative bodies.
The National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) said in a joint statement on Saturday that they made four arrests in connection with the scheme, which involved the procurement of military drones and signal jamming systems.
“The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices,” they said, adding that the suspects had received kickbacks of up to 30 percent of the contract amounts.
NABU and SAPO said they had caught a sitting lawmaker, two local officials and an unspecified number of National Guard personnel taking bribes. The suspects were not identified in Saturday’s statement.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also said it had suspended the suspected National Guard members.
The announcement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came under criticism last month for trying to take away the anticorruption agencies’ independence and place them under the control of his prosecutor-general.
The agencies regained their autonomy after Zelenskyy’s move sparked the first antigovernment demonstrations in Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022.
Zelenskyy, who enjoys far-reaching wartime powers, initially said he needed to bring the agencies under his control because they were inefficient and under “Russian influence”.
But he then said he had heard people’s anger and submitted a bill restoring the agencies’ independence, which was passed by lawmakers on Thursday.
“It is important that anticorruption institutions operate independently, and the law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the tools necessary for a real fight against corruption,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine’s European allies praised the about-face, having voiced concerns about the original defanging of the agencies.
Top officials had told Zelenskyy that Ukraine was jeopardising its bid for European Union membership by curbing the powers of its antigraft authorities.
In a statement about Saturday’s arrests, Zelenskyy said he was “grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for their work”.