Ukraine's deputy energy minister Oleksandr Kheilo was arrested on corruption charges, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on Aug. 12.
While the SBU said only that a deputy energy minister had been arrested and did not mention Kheilo by name, Ukrainska Pravda soon confirmed that he was the individual in question.
The official portal of Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers later reported that Kheilo had been dismissed from his position.
According to the SBU, Kheilo allegedly demanded bribes from representatives of a state-owned coal company to facilitate the transfer of mining equipment from near the frontline hotspot of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, where fighting is currently ongoing, and then transport it to the Lviv-Volyn region in western Ukraine.
Kheilo allegedly involved three other accomplices in his corruption scheme—an independent energy trader, the head of an energy company in Mykolaiv Oblast, and the head of a mining company in Donetsk Oblast.
The SBU documented several tranches of bribe payments, and the individuals in question were reportedly caught "red-handed."
The four conspirators have been charged with receiving a bribe and face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
In a post on its official website, the Energy Ministry said it was cooperating with law enforcement authorities to "ensure an objective investigation and establish all the circumstances of the offense."
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
