SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
This week, Ukraine is facing what could be the most harmful corruption probe in the five years that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been president. Ukraine's independent anti-corruption agencies say that associates close to Zelenskyy plotted to skim some $100 million from the country's energy sector. This comes as Ukraine experiences power blackouts because of Russian strikes on the energy system. NPR's Joanna Kakissis joins us now from Kyiv. Joanna, thanks for being with us.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Thanks for having me on the show, Scott.
SIMON: And please tell us what's going on in this investigation.
KAKISSIS: So, Scott, this investigation was conducted by two agencies that monitor the Ukrainian state for graft. They're the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. And this probe is extensive. It took 15 months. They used about 1,000 hours of wiretaps. There were seven alleged participants, including Timur Mindich. He's a close business associate of Zelenskyy's. Investigators say this group manipulated contracts at Energoatom, which is Ukraine's state nuclear energy company, and they got kickbacks, laundering roughly $100 million, like you mentioned earlier. The scandal has forced the resignation of two ministers in Zelenskyy's government so far, but Zelenskyy has not been implicated in this probe, and he is calling for the prosecution of those accused of committing crimes.
SIMON: And, Joanna, what do you hear from Ukrainians?
KAKISSIS: Well, Scott, we've spoken to several Ukrainians in Kyiv about this corruption probe, and they are enraged, for lack of a better word. Oleksandra Pokydko (ph), she's 28 and works in marketing, and she told us this scandal is especially galling as Ukraine struggles to protect its power plants from constant Russian attacks.
OLEKSANDRA POKYDKO: (Through interpreter) It hits very hard when Ukrainians are sitting here without electricity and that our energy workers are working hard to restore it. When corruption happens on such a large scale, I have a very negative reaction. And it's also very painful because I love Ukraine very much.
KAKISSIS: She told us that Ukraine must be united as it continues to defend itself from Russia and that it's painful to consider not trusting Zelenskyy right now.
SIMON: Has corruption been an issue in Ukraine?
KAKISSIS: Yeah. Corruption used to be a big problem here, especially on the government level. But in the last decade, Ukraine has made great strides in improving transparency and accountability and appointing these independent agencies that investigate corruption. The European Union is considering Ukraine's membership right now, partly because of all this progress in fighting corruption. So Ukrainians want to make sure there is no backsliding. We spoke with Mykhailo Tkach. He's an investigative journalist at Ukrainska Pravda, a prominent news outlet here. He reports on corruption, and he points out that there were mass protests this summer when parliament and Zelenskyy tried to take away the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies and bring them under a prosecutor general appointed by Zelenskyy.
MYKHAILO TKACH: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: Tkach is saying if they had managed to destroy this independence, then the current investigation might not have happened because how independent can a prosecutor general appointed by the president's office be? Now, Scott, Ukrainians also associate corruption with Russia. Activists have told me that Russia used to use corrupted Ukrainian politicians in the past to control Ukraine. And, Scott, I should also say that Ukrainians say corruption during wartime is something like murder, that soldiers die if resources that could go to the frontline are stolen.
SIMON: And, of course, the war rages on. What's the latest from the frontlines?
KAKISSIS: Well, Ukrainian troops are in a very difficult battle right now to defend Pokrovsk, a city in eastern Ukraine. Russian troops have been trying to occupy the city for nearly two years and have now infiltrated it. We spoke by phone to soldiers in four brigades defending Pokrovsk, including Volodymyr Polevyi of the 7th Rapid Response Corps.
VOLODYMYR POLEVYI: The brigades are really exhausted. The enemy has changed its tactic. We have the infiltration of infantry groups, and they are covered by the swarms of drone.
KAKISSIS: Another soldier we talked to described looking up at the sky and seeing so many drones that they are literally crashing into each other. Soldiers are saying, we need more resources to hold on.
SIMON: NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Thanks so much.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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