Former prime minister and leader of the Batkivshchyna party (26 seats in parliament) Yulia Tymoshenko along with fellow lawmaker Hryhoriy Nemyria are suing the foreign ministry to return their diplomatic passports, the Kyiv Independent learned from court records. Both were stripped of their diplomatic passports over the summer for not
The new Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin began his reign with a long-awaited move, ending the seemingly never-ending saga of choosing the country's top anti-corruption prosecutor. Oleksandr Klymenko, who won the job contest back in December, was formally named the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) on July 28.
Parliament appointed lawmaker Andriy Kostin, a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky's party, as prosecutor general. 299 lawmakers supported the president's candidate on July 27. Kostin, seen as a staunch Zelensky loyalist, has been accused of sabotaging judicial reform. He also used to be the Zelensky administration's preferred candidate for the
Oleksiy Symonenko, who became acting prosecutor general on July 17, may be formally appointed as the prosecutor general by the Verkhovna Rada next week, with his past record suggesting he values loyalty to the presidential administration more than being effective on the job. “He’s as loyal to the authorities
Ukraine’s richest man doesn’t want to be called an oligarch anymore. For that, he’s ready to publicly distance himself from politics and relinquish his sway over the domestic media market. Rinat Akhmetov, who owns System Capital Management (SCM), the country’s largest holding and the bulk of
Editor's Note: Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and Security Service Head Ivan Bakanov were fired by parliament on July 19, 10 hours after the article was published. President Volodymyr Zelensky dropped major news on a typically slow Sunday evening, removing from office two of his staunchest allies – Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova
Ukrainian-born U.S. Congresswoman Victoria Spartz has recently come out with sweeping accusations against President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak. The accusations, published on July 8 and July 9, range from corruption and sabotage of reforms to allegedly serving Russian interests. Yermak hasn't commented on the accusations.
In the Battle of Donbas, Ukraine’s military has made a painful yet long-anticipated decision — withdrawing from the last patches of the city of Sievierodonetsk. By June 25, the last Ukrainian combat units left their ruined positions in the city’s industrial zone for Lysychansk, a heavily fortified point to
When Russia’s full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, Serhiy Prytula, comedian turned politician, quit everything he was working on to fully devote himself to helping Ukraine. Since then, his charity has crowdfunded over Hr 1 billion ($34 million), becoming one of the largest in Ukraine after Come Back Alive,
Editor's Note: The following is the full translated transcript of the speech delivered by President Volodymyr Zelensky at the 58th Munich Security Conference on Feb. 19. It was published by the President's Office and is republished here without changes. Zelensky delivered the speech in Ukrainian. Find the highlights here. Ladies
Oleksandr Trukhin, a lawmaker from the governing President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People faction, was kicked out of the party after a journalistic investigation exposed his attempts to bribe police officers at a car crash site. The party announced the decision to expel Trukhin on Feb. 2, a
Serhii Kuzminykh, a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People parliamentary faction, was caught while allegedly accepting an Hr 558,000 ($20,000) bribe on Jan. 28, according to law enforcement sources of Ukrainian news websites Ukrainska Pravda and Censor.Net. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said
The British government has accused the Kremlin of seeking to install a pro-Russian leadership in Ukraine, in a statement on Jan. 22. "We have information that indicates the Russian government is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv as it considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine," the statement
A selection panel on Jan. 21 effectively launched Ukraine’s long-awaited judicial reform process, starting a contest for jobs at the High Qualification Commission, a judicial governing body. The panel was created in September, but its work has been delayed due to obstruction by Ukraine’s judiciary and uncertainty over
Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court made its long-anticipated ruling on the pre-trial arrangements of ex-President Petro Poroshenko. On Jan. 19, the court ordered Poroshenko to sign a writ of personal recognizance, which is a pledge by the defendant to attend court without posting bail. The court chose not to place
Six hours into ex-President Petro Poroshenko's arrest hearing on Jan. 17, the judge left for the chambers, allegedly for a 20-minute break. He never reappeared in the courtroom. After nearly six hours without the judge, the hearing was postponed until Jan. 19. Poroshenko left the courthouse. "I'll see you all
Ex-President Petro Poroshenko returned to Ukraine on Jan. 17 after a one-month absence. He is facing arrest in a treason case. Poroshenko left Ukraine promptly on Dec. 18, after the State Investigation Bureau detectives tried to hand him a summons. Two days later, he was charged with high treason. Poroshenko
Oleksiy Kovalov, a lawmaker with the ruling 242-member Servant of the People party, announced on Dec. 28 that he has bought the nationwide TV Channel 4. Kovalov said that the broadcaster with its team of 200 people will preserve its “pro-Ukrainian vector” and independent editorial policy. “Our family decided to
Prosecutors are seeking to arrest ex-President Petro Poroshenko who's been charged with high treason. They've asked for a bail of Hr 1 billion ($37 million), according to several media reports published on Dec. 24, citing the Prosecutor General’s Office. Ukrinform, Ukrainska Pravda and other Ukrainian media also reported, citing
The State Investigation Bureau tried to hand a summons to ex-President Petro Poroshenko in a case into treason and aiding terrorist groups in Russian-occupied areas of the Donbas. The bureau said detectives had attempted to give him the summons in front of the Verkhovna Rada on Dec. 17 but he
Deputy Interior Minister Oleksandr Gogilashvili submitted his resignation after a video surfaced of him yelling insults at police officers trying to establish his identity. The Cabinet of Ministers accepted Gogilashvili's resignation on Dec. 13 after President Volodymyr Zelensky urged them to dismiss the official. Gogilashvili caused the scandal on Dec.
President Volodymyr Zelensky leads presidential polls with a share of 23.5% of decided voters, maintaining a 10.1% lead over ex-president and leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko, who got 13.4%. Zelensky's support 2.5 years into his presidency is 6% down from the result he
Lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, co-head of the pro-Kremlin 44-member Opposition Platform - For Life faction, failed to declare assets worth over Hr 73 million ($2.7 million), the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) announced on Dec. 8. According to the agency, Medvedchuk did not declare his Kyiv land
On the morning of Dec. 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his annual speech to Parliament. Here are the key points from his address: Dialogue with Russia Zelensky’s headline-grabbing statement was that Ukraine “cannot end the war (in the Donbas) without direct dialogue with Russia.” The president said that Ukraine’
Several thousand protesters gathered in central Kyiv on the evening of Dec. 1 to demand President Volodymyr Zelensky’s resignation over what they see as his concessions to the Kremlin. The protesters zeroed in on Zelensky’s statement earlier the same day that he’s not afraid of direct negotiations
The court’s Nov. 30 decision may alleviate concerns by judicial watchdogs and Western experts about the court’s legitimacy. But President Volodymyr Zelensky said he’s concerned by the delay and sees it as an attempt to promote discredited judges’ interests. The Constitutional Court has been in crisis for
Parliament voted the bill through in its second reading. The bill had been labelled as “anti-Akhmetov,” as two of its key provisions will hurt the steelmaking and energy business interests of Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man. The provisions in question are a new calculation system for iron ore mining
Any aggression from Russia against Ukraine would trigger “serious consequences,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Nov. 30. Blinken told a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Riga that Russia is combining military movements along Ukraine’s border with internal efforts to destabilize the country. NATO Secretary-General
Why is the reform needed? Ukraine’s judiciary remains corrupt, dysfunctional and politicized. Its governing bodies — the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission — are discredited because they have protected tainted judges. The previous High Qualification Commission was disbanded in 2019 by a law introduced by President Volodymyr
Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach quoted anonymous sources in a Nov. 27 podcast, alleging that several guards have been fired for failing to shoot down Ukrainska Pravda’s camera drone flying over the state residence Synohora in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast on Nov. 21. The State Guard Administration denied the accusations and
The State Investigation Bureau has opened a criminal probe over a social media video in which journalist Yuriy Butusov is seen firing a 152mm artillery piece. The bureau wants to check whether Butusov was “mishandling weapons and endangering others” as well as “planning, preparing, launching and waging war,” according to
Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of NATO, said that the alliance is not dismissing the possibility of a deeper Russian incursion into Ukraine, due to its history of invading its neighbors. Stoltenberg made the statement in a comment to German publication Welt am Sonntag on Nov. 27, following alarming Western reports about
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