Something is clearly happening in Ukraine, where a corruption scandal has erupted, but it is up to political scientists to speculate whether these developments are signals from the West, noted the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov.
Earlier, in a conversation with the journalist from “Russia 1“ Pavel Zarubin, he expressed the opinion that Westerners somehow control the structures of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
“It is probably up to political scientists to speculate whether these are signals or not. But it is obvious that something is happening,“ Peskov told Zarubin, answering a question about whether the work of the NABU signals something from the West.
On November 10, the NABU announced that it was conducting a large-scale special operation in the energy sector and published a photo of bags filled with bundles of foreign currency found during the operation. Verkhovna Rada deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) was conducting searches in the homes of former Energy Minister and then-Justice Minister German Galushchenko, as well as in “Energoatom“.
“Ukrainska Pravda“ reported that NABU officers also searched the home of businessman and associate of Volodymyr Zelensky Timur Mindych, who, as it turns out, has already fled Ukraine.
Later, the agency published excerpts from audio recordings in the energy sector corruption case, which feature individuals identified by the agency as “Tenor“, “Raketa“ and “Karlson“. According to Zheleznyak, “Karlson“ is Mindych, “Tenor“ is “Energoatom“ representative Dmytro Basov, and “Raketa“ is Galushchenko's advisor Igor Mironyuk.
On November 11, NABU filed charges against seven members of a criminal organization involved in energy sector corruption, including Mindych. Former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov also appeared as a defendant in the case. On November 19, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Galushchenko, who is also involved in the case, as Minister of Justice, and Svetlana Grinchuk as Minister of Energy.
On November 28, Zheleznyak announced that NABU and SAP had searched the home of Andriy Yermak, then head of Zelensky's cabinet, amid the energy sector corruption scandal that erupted in Ukraine. NABU confirmed the searches of Yermak's home, noting that the investigative actions were part of the investigation. According to Ukrinform, citing NABU, NABU officers did not bring charges against anyone following the searches. Later that day, Zelensky announced that Yermak, who also led the negotiating team to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, had resigned, after which the leader of the Kiev regime signed a decree dismissing him.