Team
Oleg Sukhov photo

Oleg Sukhov

Reporter

Oleg Sukhov is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He is a former editor and reporter at the Moscow Times. He has a master's degree in history from the Moscow State University. He moved to Ukraine in 2014 due to the crackdown on independent media in Russia and covered war, corruption, reforms and law enforcement for the Kyiv Post.

For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

The problem at the top of Ukraine's judiciary

by Oleg Sukhov
"Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes" is an idiom often attributed to American statesman Benjamin Franklin. In Ukraine, another certainty has emerged over the years: society's persistent demand for judicial reform — and the judiciary's equally persistent resistance to it. Following the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, Ukraine's highest court was expected to become a flagship of the country's Western-backed reform agenda. Instead, the Supreme Court has become mired in controve
A worker inspects a combat drone at a Fire Point secret production facility in Ukraine on Aug. 18, 2025.

Explainer: What’s the corruption controversy around drone maker Fire Point?

Ukrainian drone maker Fire Point has been described as a crucial supplier for the country's army and contributor to the country's war effort. At the same time, the company has found itself at the center of Ukraine's largest corruption scandal — a $100 million scheme centered around the state nuclear monopoly Energoatom and defense procurement. This has prompted calls for auditing the company's contracts and owners and nationalizing it, as well as reviewing the rules of defense procurement. Fi

The main problem with Ukraine's corruption prevention watchdog

by Oleg Sukhov
Viktor Pavlushchyk, head of Ukraine's National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP), was praised for his work as an anti-corruption investigator. After his promotion, Pavlushchyk is in the hot seat. He was appointed to his current job by a commission including independent foreign experts as part of Ukraine's anti-corruption reforms in 2024 in a contest that was widely applauded. The National Agency for Corruption Prevention, set up in 2015, has a broad mandate, including determining the go

Explainer: Is Zelensky implicated in Ukraine's largest corruption scandal, and what do the new tapes reveal?

by Oleg Sukhov
As a new round of leaked tapes surfaces in Ukraine's sweeping corruption scandal, one question stands at the center: Did President Volodymyr Zelensky know? Alleged transcripts of the audio tapes were published by media outlet Ukrainska Pravda on April 28 and May 1 and by lawmakers Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Oleksiy Honcharenko on May 1. The tapes are allegedly part of an investigation conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) of a $100 million corruption scheme centered around the s