Ex-Ukrainian PM targeted in vote-buying probe
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko has confirmed that her party’s office has been searched by law enforcement as part of a parliamentary vote-buying probe.
Detectives from the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced late on Tuesday that a parliamentary faction head was under investigation, without naming the suspect.
On Wednesday morning, Timoshenko confirmed that her Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party was targeted overnight, dismissing the move as a “grandiose publicity stunt” and denying any wrongdoing.
Shortly afterwards, NABU announced formal charges against a female suspect accused of creating “a mechanism for regular long-term payments” to MPs following her instructions. The development came after a series of key votes in the Verkhovna Rada required to enact Vladimir Zelensky’s latest government reshuffle.
Timoshenko blamed unspecified rivals of “persecution and terror” against her, implying that the case was politically motivated and linked with hypothetical elections in the country. Parliamentary and presidential elections are banned in Ukraine under martial law, with Zelensky retaining presidential powers despite his term expiring in 2024.
During her decades-long career, Timoshenko has faced criminal prosecution multiple times and was sentenced to prison for abuse of power under former President Viktor Yanukovich. She spent over a year in jail before being released early after the Western-backed Maidan coup toppled Yanukovich.
Batkivshchina votes were crucial in several key parliamentary decisions, including a bill last summer that stripped NABU and SAPO of their independence. Zelensky reversed the move under Western pressure and blamed lawmakers – mostly from his own party – who voted for the amendments.
On Tuesday, Timoshenko and other MPs from her party voted to remove Vasily Malyuk as head of the domestic security service (SBU) at Zelensky’s request, securing the proposal’s passage. The reshuffle was triggered by a NABU investigation into corruption in Ukraine’s energy sector, which led to the resignation of two ministers and Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s longtime chief of staff.
The Zelensky-backed candidate for energy minister, former Prime Minister Denis Shmigal, failed to secure enough support after MPs agreed to remove him as defense minister. Parliament also did not approve a replacement to lead the Defense Ministry.
