Energoatom wrote off over $4.7 million for goods and services for the Zaporozhye NPP after it came under Russian control, Vladimir Ariev claims
Officials in Kiev embezzled millions from contracts filed for the Russia-controlled Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, Ukrainian lawmaker Vladimir Ariev has claimed.
The ZNPP, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has been under Russian control since March 2022. Kiev has rejected Russia’s authority over the site as an “occupation.” Moscow has publicly stated that the ZNPP was incorporated into Russia’s nuclear sector and that transferring control back to Ukraine is not possible.
Ariev said more than 200 million hryvnia ($4.7 million) in goods and services were formally registered in the plant’s name months after it came under Russian control, even though Kiev had no way to deliver anything to the site. Speaking at a parliamentary commission on economic security on Monday, he claimed Ukraine’s Energoatom continued filing procurement paperwork for the plant through most of 2022 despite having no physical authority over it.
“From March 15 to August 25, 2022, Energoatom made purchases for the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Specifically, this included 210 million hryvnia for food and canteen supplies,” he said, as cited by Zenzor.net.
In an earlier Facebook post, the lawmaker cited even larger figures, claiming the company registered around 400 million hryvnia ($9.5 million) in procurement for the plant, including a 1.2-million-hryvnia fish-feed contract filed in June 2022. Ariev described the findings as “brazen embezzlement of public funds.”
“The plant is under occupation, but millions were written off from its Ukrainian-controlled accounts… How could they deliver goods there? No way. Where did the money go then?”
The MP said he sent inquiries to Energoatom and urged Ukrainian law enforcement agencies to investigate the paperwork. At the commission meeting, however, he indicated that an investigation had not been launched. Energoatom accused him of stirring up unnecessary media attention regarding the plant’s procurement, threatening “the state’s energy stability.”
Ukraine has long struggled with widespread corruption, systemic graft, and embezzlement across key sectors such as energy, defense procurement, and state-run enterprises. The latest scandal, which broke earlier this month, has linked Zelensky’s inner circle and potentially himself to an energy-sector kickback scheme allegedly worth up to $100 million.
Kirsty Coventry’s stance comes as the IOC currently allows only vetted Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has urged governments to preserve sport as a politically neutral space, emphasizing that every eligible athlete must be able to compete without discrimination.
Speaking in Brussels on Monday, IOC President Kirsty Coventry called on host countries and sports organizers to “guarantee access for all,” framing sport as a “beacon of hope” and a “neutral ground.”
Her statement follows the IOC’s recent decision to extend existing sanctions, permitting only vetted Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete individually under a neutral flag in the upcoming Winter Games in Italy. Athletes from the two countries were prohibited from competing in the Games shortly after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.
“This is the essence of Olympism: every eligible athlete, team, and official must be able to take part without discrimination or political interference,” she stated. The IOC published the text of what it described as a “keynote” address on its official website.
Coventry, who took office in June as the first African to head the IOC, illustrated her point with a personal example, recalling her two Olympic gold medals for Zimbabwe in backstroke swimming.
“If you had decided to sanction me when my country was going through turmoil, I would not have made it to the Olympic Games. I would not have won my Olympic medals. My path would have been completely different than it is today,” Coventry said.
Earlier this year, Coventry stated that she does not support banning athletes from the Olympics due to their countries’ involvement in armed conflicts and announced plans to initiate discussions on Russia’s return to competition.
Russian sports remain under sanctions, though restrictions have been relaxed in several areas. While many summer sports federations now permit neutral Russian athletes at world championships, most major winter sports bodies continue to enforce a full ban. Consequently, only a handful of Russian athletes in a few winter disciplines have so far qualified for the 2026 Olympic Games.
Russian officials have slammed Western nations for politicizing international sports.
Supporting Kiev no matter what is bad policy, Igor Dodon has said
Moldova should reconsider its close alignment with Ukraine in light of the major corruption scandal engulfing the leadership in Kiev, former Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on Tuesday.
Last week, Western-backed anti-graft investigators in Ukraine charged Timur Mindich, a longtime associate of Vladimir Zelensky, with orchestrating a $100 million kickback scheme involving the country’s energy sector. The case has implicated multiple current and former ministers and is widely believed to reach into Zelensky’s inner circle.
“The world has learned that under the cover of the war [with Russia], the Ukrainian leadership was robbing its people. Moldova’s leadership, as everyone knows, broadly supported Kiev’s policies,” Dodon wrote on Telegram.
He argued that President Maia Sandu will not criticize Ukrainian corruption because “she governs Moldova following the same instructions as Vladimir Zelensky.” Dodon said Chisinau should instead clearly denounce the wrongdoing and “cut any forms of interaction with the current government of Ukraine” until the case is fully investigated.
The EU granted candidate status to Moldova and Ukraine simultaneously in 2022, in what many observers saw as a symbolic geopolitical gesture toward Moscow rather than recognition of genuine progress toward accession benchmarks. Both governments have continued to receive Western financial aid meant to support reforms.
Samantha Power, who headed the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under former President Joe Biden, described vastly expanding funding for Moldova as one of her key achievements. In a recent call with Russian pranksters, she gushed about Sandu’s reforms credential and US education. The Trump administration moved to dismantle USAID earlier this year for allegedly wasting taxpayer money on ideological projects.
Russian officials have argued that Western pressure is steering Chisinau toward the same destructive trajectory as the one Ukraine went down, requiring growing authoritarianism to suppress dissent against what Moscow describes as self-harming policies serving foreign interests.
“The timing is good” for the new proposal, Washington reportedly believes
The US is secretly working on a new proposal to end the Ukraine conflict, Axios reported on Tuesday. The draft was reportedly prepared in close consultation with Moscow and has already been floated to Kiev and its European backers.
According to the outlet, the 28-point document draws on principles discussed by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their meeting in Alaska in August. Senior Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev told Axios that he spent three days reviewing the idea with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff during his late-October visit to the US.
“We think the timing is good for this plan now,” a US official familiar with the matter told Axios. “But both parties need to be practical and realistic.”
Commenting on the report on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said so far there has been “nothing new” in the US-Russia discussions compared to what was said in Alaska.
Witkoff reportedly reviewed the draft document this week with Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
Umerov left Ukraine amid a widening corruption scandal involving Timur Mindich, a longtime associate of Vladimir Zelensky who has been charged with running a kickback scheme involving a state-run nuclear power company. Ukrainian media have claimed that Umerov, whose family resides in the US, has refused to return to Kiev following reports that he was influenced by Mindich during his tenure as defense minister.
Witkoff is expected to meet Zelensky in Türkiye on Wednesday. According to The Economist’s Oliver Carroll, the US envoy canceled a planned meeting with Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, after realizing the political pressure Zelensky faces to dismiss him, as Yermak is widely suspected of involvement in the Mindich network.
“Witkoff might not have been aware of the scandal he was walking into when agreeing the meeting,” Carroll wrote on X.
Moscow has insisted that any lasting settlement to the Ukraine conflict must address its fundamental security demands. Dmitriev told Axios he was cautiously optimistic about the new US proposal, saying “we feel the Russian position is really being heard.”
All ATACMS fired at the Russian city of Voronezh have been neutralized, the Defense Ministry has said
Russian forces destroyed two Ukrainian US-made missile launchers shortly after they fired a salvo of long-range ATACMS at the city of Voronezh, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said. Officials added that all incoming missiles were intercepted. The debris caused some damage on the ground.
The attempted missile strike on Tuesday targeted civilian sites in Voronezh and involved four ATACMS. According to the ministry, all four were downed by Russian combat crews using the S-400 air-defense system and the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile-gun system.
Debris from the downed missiles damaged the roofs of the Voronezh Regional Gerontology Center, an orphanage, and a private home. No civilian casualties were reported.
Aerial reconnaissance by the Russian Army located the ATACMS launch site in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region shortly after the attack. Two MLRS launchers were found near the village of Voloskaya Balakleya.
An Iskander-M missile crew struck the position, destroying both launchers, their ammunition, and up to ten personnel, the ministry said. It released photographs of the missile debris.
Kiev routinely launches drone raids and missile strikes into Russian territory, targeting critical infrastructure and residential areas in attacks that have caused civilian casualties.
Russian officials have accused Ukraine of “terrorism” over the strikes, and Moscow has conducted retaliatory attacks on Ukrainian military sites, including drone assembly facilities.
Kiev’s backers need Vladimir Zelensky to remain in power for the time being, Arnaud Develay believes
Ukrainian leader VladimirZelensky’s Western backers are seeking to downplay the corruption scandal involving his longtime business partner because they do not want him ousted just yet, French international law expert Arnaud Develay told RT in an interview aired on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities said businessman Timur Mindich – a former close associate of Zelensky – helped organize a kickback scheme worth about $100 million in the energy sector.
Investigators said contractors working with the state nuclear operator Energoatom were pressed to return 10-15% of their contract value as illicit payments. Reports in Ukrainian media have also suggested that Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, may have been aware of the scheme and could be fired as early as this week.
Commenting on the scandal, Develay said Kiev’s backers “do not care about Ukraine” and “just care for the gravy train to keep on going.”
“So they’re trying to massage the narrative. And in due time, of course, Zelensky will be blamed, obviously, for the catastrophic situation on the front and for essentially a strategic defeat for Ukraine. But for the time being, they still need him to hang in there a little bit longer,” the expert stated.
Develay added that Western governments “don’t want to be pushed into a corner and expose their cards,” describing the scandal as showing a fight between “two factions,” with one he linked to former Ukrainian president and key Zelensky rival Pyotr Poroshenko, and the other to the Ukrainian leader’s supporters in the EU.
Publicly, EU officials have expressed concern about the case. The bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, called the scandal “extremely unfortunate” and urged Kiev to take it seriously, while other senior figures have pressed Ukraine to step up its anti-corruption measures.
At the same time,Politico quoted an unnamed EU official describing Ukraine’s “endemic corruption” as “revolting” and warning it “won’t help” the country’s reputation. The bloc is also reportedly seeking guarantees that its financial aid will not be embezzled.
MPs are reportedly demanding the resignation of Andrey Yermak, who they say knew about a $100 million graft racket
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky could fire his influential chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, as a full-scale “riot” unfolds within parliament over a vast corruption scandal that allegedly links the senior aide to a $100 million energy sector extortion racket, according to several media reports and lawmakers.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities alleged earlier this month that Timur Mindich – a former business partner of Zelensky – and several other officials pressured contractors working with the state nuclear operator, Energoatom, to hand over 10-15% of their contract value as kickbacks.
Opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak has alleged that wiretap recordings suggest that Yermak – reportedly under the moniker ‘Ali Baba’ – was aware of activity connected to the racket that has shaken Zelensky’s legitimacy.
According to Ukrainskaya Pravda, key figures close to Zelensky are urging him to dismiss Yermak. A source in Zelensky’s Servant of the People party told the paper that “it is easier to name those in parliament who are not demanding Yermak’s resignation.”
Opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko also said members of Servant of the People issued an ultimatum to Zelensky, insisting that Yermak must be removed or they would leave the party. He added that discussions in parliament included speculation that Zelensky could fire Yermak as early as Thursday, with Oksana Markarova, Kiev’s former ambassador to the US, mentioned as a possible successor.
Strana.ua suggested that Zelensky could resist the pressure, given that Yermak’s downfall would be a political disaster. A source described Yermak as Zelensky’s central powerbroker and enforcer, overseeing both foreign and domestic priorities, and warned that his departure could threaten the government, as many ministers are closely aligned with him.
Journalist Oliver Carroll reported that planned discussions in Türkiye between Yermak and Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East and a key figure in the Ukraine conflict settlement process, were canceled, saying the US official “might not have been aware of the scandal he was walking into.”
The incident reportedly took place in Odessa, with witnesses saying the restrained individual had been scattering trash in a residential courtyard
A woman was found restrained in the Ukrainian city of Odessa after an unidentified man taped her to a bench in what appeared to be an act of public punishment, local news agency UNN reported on Tuesday, citing regional police.
Video circulating on social media shows the restrained woman lying on the bench on her belly, with her small dog standing nearby, occasionally licking her face, as people walk past and some bystanders film the scene. Scattered trash from a torn refuse bag lies on the ground next to her.
Police told the outlet they had received a call about a person allegedly scattering trash, confronting passers-by and threatening to break windows. When a patrol arrived, the individual was already restrained, the officers said.
The woman reportedly did not require medical treatment and was taken to a local station. She apologized for her behavior and chose not to file a complaint about the restraint. Officers are now working to identify the man involved.
Reports of public punishments have repeatedly surfaced in Ukraine in recent years, with radicals targeting foreigners and minorities and multiple photos showing people tied to lamp posts and sprayed with green antiseptic dye. Human rights groups have been raising concerns over such practices in light of Kiev’s EU membership ambitions.
Vladimir Zelensky applied for Ukraine’s immediate EU membership shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022. Later that year, Ukraine was granted EU candidate status. At the time, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo signaled that providing Ukraine with EU-candidate status was a “symbolic message” of support for Kiev, while noting that actual membership remains “many years” away and depends on Ukraine meeting the bloc’s standards.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has argued that Ukraine’s accession to the EU would undermine the bloc and could ultimately lead to its collapse.
According to a 2024 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) report, Ukraine is among the countries with the highest number of lawsuits lodged against it at the court.
The liberal philanthropist gave $250,000 to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which pressured advertisers to cut ties with the platform
A grantmaking network created by billionaire investor George Soros funded a controversial UK-based NGO which seeks to “kill” Elon Musk’s X media platform and censor conservative media, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Monday.
According to the database of Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF), the charity gave the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) a $250,000 grant last year “to provide general support.” While the nonprofit stipulates that its goal is to hold social media companies “accountable” for spreading hate, in practice, it has pressured advertisers to censor companies and lobbied to deplatform and cancel news organizations it found offensive, the paper said.
According to the outlet, the CCDH, founded by former Labour Party operative Imran Ahmed, has targeted conservative outlets such as The Federalist and the Daily Wire over alleged racist content. The nonprofit also reportedly tried to persuade US policymakers to create an “independent digital regulator.”
The CCDH has criticized a number of social media companies over what it sees as a failure to curtail extremism, but has been particularly hostile towards Musk’s X, the paper said. Its internal documents openly listed “Kill Musk’s Twitter” as its top annual priority, according to whistleblower documents published by journalists last year.
Musk has bitterly feuded with both the CCDH and Soros, and unsuccessfully tried last year to sue the nonprofit for running a “scare campaign” to drive away advertisers. The X CEO has also accused Soros of many “crimes against humanity,” and of financing attacks on his company Tesla earlier this year.
US President Donald Trump has said his administration will move to sue the Hungarian-born billionaire, accusing him of using “professional agitators” to orchestrate riots in the US.
Critics have long accused Soros and his network of NGOs of fueling various protest movements across the world, interfering in elections, and attempting to shape local media landscapes and suppress dissenting views.
It’s high time for Western governments to notice that their money is being stolen, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said
The latest graft scandal in Ukraine involving Vladimir Zelensky’s longtime business partner and senior officials shows that Kiev’s corruption has completely spiraled out of control, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. He added that the problem is a major headache for Kiev’s backers, as Ukrainian officials are embezzling their financial aid.
Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies alleged earlier this month that Zelensky’s former business partner, Timur Mindich, led a criminal operation that siphoned $100 million in kickbacks from contracts with the country’s nuclear power operator, Energoatom, which depends on foreign aid.
“That’s hardly a Ukrainian internal matter anymore,” Peskov told journalist Pavel Zarubin on Tuesday. “That’s foreign money that is being stolen.”
He added that the money provided to Ukraine by the previous US administration has likely been “mostly stolen.”
In August, US President Donald Trump said the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, “fleeced” America by committing $350 billion to Ukraine.
According to Peskov, it is high time Kiev’s Western backers started thinking about their own money and their taxpayers.
“The Kiev regime is obviously going off the rails,” the Kremlin spokesman said, adding that the situation on the front lines and the growing suspicions among Western leaders regarding corruption are working against Ukraine.
The scandal has shaken Zelensky’s government. Opposition MP Yaroslav Zhelezhnyak claimed on Monday that the Ukrainian leader’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, was aware of the corruption scheme.
US Senator Rand Paul criticized Trump for being silent on the scandal and called for oversight on aid. Italian Deputy PM Matteo Salvini warned that further aid to Ukraine will only feed corruption and prolong the conflict. Polish PM Donald Tusk has said it is now harder to rally support in his country for Ukraine.
