Ukraine: Anti-corruption agencies target former PM

Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Wednesday that her party's office had been raided overnight as Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies announced a sweeping probe into political corruption.

Strictly speaking, Ukraine's NABU anti-corruption agency did not name Tymoshenko when announcing its suspicions against a "party leader" in the national parliament.

However, it released a blurred video and still images showing a blond-haired woman with a distinctive braided hairstyle that could only be one of the most recognizable silhouettes in 21st-century Ukrainian politics.

Tymoshenko was a leader of the so-called Orange Revolution of 2004 and served as prime minister in two stints between 2005 and 2010.

She ran against Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the country's last presidential elections in 2019, her third failed attempt to claim the position, and has clashed with him at several points during his presidency.

The 65-year-old leads the Batkivshchyna or "Fatherland" party, which has 25 seats in Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada parliament. This party has broadly similar stances on key foreign policy issues — like Russia, NATO and the EU — as the now much larger Servant of the People that came to power amid Zelenskyy's rapid politcal rise.

After losing the 2010 presidential election to pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych, she was jailed for abuse of power on charges connected to a gas deal signed with Moscow. Her backers, as well as several rights groups and Western governments, called that conviction politically motivated.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) accused the unnamed political party leader of "offering illicit benefits" to lawmakers in exchange for loyal votes in parliament. It said that a pretrial investigation had begun.

It published a video showing officers in the office opening envelopes stuffed with US dollars in front of the woman.

The allegations can carry a maximum jail term of 10 years.

Tymoshenko issued a statement saying investigators had searched the offices of her party overnight, calling the raid a "PR stunt" and a "political hit job."

"More than 30 heavily armed men, without presenting any documents, effectively seized the building and took staff hostage," she alleged.

She also said that phones, parliamentary documents and "personal savings" were seized, saying "I categorically reject all the absurd accusations."

The investigation and raids follow a series of corruption scandals putting pressure on the war-torn country and its government, probably most notably when Zelenskyy's top aide, Andriy Yermak, resigned in November.

Improving the country's record on political corruption is a key requirement for Ukraine's goal of gaining European Union membership. US President Donald Trump has also raised the issue in critical tones several times since his return to the White House.

Also on Wednesday, the European Commission announced a two-year loan plan for Ukraine worth roughly €90 billion (roughly $105 billion), roughly two-thirds of which is earmarked for military support.

"We all want peace for Ukraine and for that Ukraine must be in a position of strength," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels.

In Kyiv, another former Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, changed portfolios again from defense minister to the key position of energy minister, as Russian strikes continue to tarket Ukraine's power network. Shmyhal had been prime minister for most of Zelenskyy's tenure as president, before moving to the Defense Minstry in 2025.

One day earlier, lawmakers had surprisingly blocked Shmyhal's appointment, but a repeat vote in parliament on Wednesday went the other way. The previous energy minister, Svitlana Hrynchuk, had also stepped down amid corruption allegations.