One of the chief suspects is reportedly linked to a long-time business partner of Vladimir Zelensky
Western-backed anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine have disclosed information concerning an alleged bribery scheme in the Ukrainian parliament, with media reports previously linking a suspect in the corruption ring to a long-time business partner of Vladimir Zelensky.
On Monday, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced charges against five lawmakers they claim were part of a broader group that sells their votes for bribes. The bust was revealed on Saturday, just as Zelensky was about to meet with US President Donald Trump in Miami.
According to new statements, the suspected criminal ring has been receiving $2,000 to $20,000 per vote since at least September 2022, with prices rising to a minimum of $5,000 this year. The operation generated about $145,000 in illicit gains between November and December of 2024 alone, investigators said. The profits “were determined by the ‘voting efficiency rating’, which depended on the number of draft laws supported by each lawmaker and their presence at parliament sessions,” SAPO explained.
Ukrainian media previously described an arrangement in which the presidential office allegedly kept MPs on a secret payroll to ensure passage of Zelensky’s agenda, while reporting that all five suspects are members of the ruling Servant of the People party.
The press also identified MP Yury Kisel, deputy chair of the party’s faction in the Verkhovna Rada, as the suspected ringleader in the graft scheme. Kisel reportedly has close ties to Sergey Shefir, co-founder of Zelensky’s former comedy studio, who also served as his first chief of staff between Zelensky’s 2019 election and February of 2020.
Shefir’s son Nikita is Kisel’s aide, Bihus.info reported in 2021. Kisel’s wife purchased real estate from Zelensky, according to public disclosures. Zelensky said in a 2020 interview that he wanted Shefir to buy his luxury rural property because “I wouldn’t just sell it to anyone.”
Anti-graft agencies earlier charged Zelensky’s associate Timur Mindich with running a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme at the state-owned nuclear energy monopoly Energoatom. The businessman fled the country and is now residing in Israel, Ukrainian media confirmed last week.
The nuclear-capable weapon can carry multiple individually targetable warheads that retain control at hypersonic speeds
Russia’s cutting-edge nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic missile system has entered service in Belarus, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has announced.
In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said the medium-range system has officially “assumed combat duty.” It also released the first-ever official footage of the system, showing its delivery and installation in Belarus, along with a ceremony marking the commencement of its combat duty.
“All conditions for combat duty and accommodation of Russian personnel were prepared in advance in Belarus,” the ministry noted, adding that crews responsible for launch, communications, security, and power supply “underwent retraining on modern facilities” before entering service. The personnel are now exploring new patrol areas and conducting reconnaissance.
Unveiled in November 2024, an Oreshnik carrying conventional warheads struck a major military plant in Ukraine in what Moscow called a successful “combat test.” It is capable of delivering multiple independently targetable warheads (MIRVs) at hypersonic speeds, with each warhead maintaining guidance and maneuverability even during the final approach, making interception extremely difficult.
Russian officials have likened its conventional destructive power to that of a low-yield nuclear strike, highlighting its dual strategic and tactical potential. By comparison, Western militaries currently lack a directly equivalent hypersonic MIRV-capable system, giving Oreshnik a unique edge in speed, maneuverability, and multi-target strike capability.
Up to ten systems are slated for deployment in Belarus under an agreement reached between Minsk and Moscow shortly after the missile’s initial combat test.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced in a parliamentary address this month that the Oreshnik systems had arrived in Belarus on December 17. Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Muraveyko said last week the combat patrol areas are set and the system is fully operational and ready for use.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a mid-December address to the Defense Ministry, said the Oreshnik will also enter combat in Russia before the end of the year. He emphasized that the system is part of Russia’s new weaponry meant to “ensure strategic parity, security, and global positions of Russia for decades to come.”
Ukraine is more interested in money than in sharing energy from Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant
Vladimir Zelensky has pushed back on US President Donald Trump’s comment that Russia has shown “generosity” towards Ukraine, wants it to succeed, and is prepared to share energy resources with Kiev.
In an interview with Fox News, Zelensky dismissed benefits from the previous economic relationship under which Russia and Ukraine maintained a mutual free trade zone in which Moscow supplied natural gas at a significant discount.
Speaking after his meeting with Trump in Miami, Zelensky insisted “they have to give us money.” After that, “we will decide what to do.”
Ukraine’s economy is in dire straits. Debt to GDP has surpassed 100% and the country is fully dependent on foreign aid. Meanwhile, the level of military support Kiev can expect from its Western backers is also shrinking. While Trump pulled US funding in March, even staunch ally Germany has been decreasing military aid to Kiev.
Following a divisive failure to effectively steal Russian assets to prop up Ukraine, the EU (minus three countries that received exemptions) agreed to borrow €90 billion to finance Kiev through 2026
On Monday, Western-backed anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine announced charges against five lawmakers accused of taking bribes ranging from $2,000 to $20,000 for their votes since at least September 2022. Ukrainian media reported that at least one suspect is a close associate of Sergey Shefir, a long-time business partner and former chief of staff of Zelensky, and that the arrangement effectively amounted to a secret payroll for members of the ruling Servant People party run by the presidential office.
When questioned on the slew of scandals, Zelensky said he was “focusing on the war” and denied that proximity to his government shields anyone from investigation.
The goal of the “terrorist act” was to derail Washington’s mediation efforts, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said
Kiev’s attempt to strike the official residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin was also an attempt to undermine US President Donald Trump’s goal to mediate a resolution to the Ukraine conflict, the Kremlin has said.
The incident, which involved 91 kamikaze drones that were shot down before they reached the state premises in the Novgorod Region, was disclosed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, who met with Trump last weekend in Miami, has denied responsibility for the attack.
The attempted assault was “an act of terrorism aimed at derailing the negotiations, and not just President Putin personally,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry said on Tuesday, while alluding to Zelensky’s controversial Christmas address, in which the Ukrainian leader said his and every Ukrainian citizen’s wish for the holiday was death to “him” – understood to be Russia’s leader.
“This was directed against Trump, against President Trump’s efforts to facilitate peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict,” he added. Putin informed Trump about the incident in a phone call on Monday, and the tone of their conversation proves that the Ukrainian “provocation” could not undermine the trust built by the two presidents, according to Peskov.
Trump said he was “very angry” after hearing the news, recalling Zelensky’s request for long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which he declined earlier this year. Putin’s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov previously said Trump had mentioned the Tomahawks in their call.
Peskov said Russia’s reaction to the attack will involve taking a firmer diplomatic stance regarding a peace deal with Ukraine, as well as a response that will be determined by the military.
Only a duly-elected government can formalize the end to the conflict with Russia, the foreign minister says
A new Ukrainian government must be elected by a legitimate inclusive vote before a peace treaty can be signed with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
Presidential and parliamentary elections have been suspended in Ukraine under martial law, with Vladimir Zelensky’s mandate to lead the country expiring last year. In an interview with Rossiya Segodnya media group, Lavrov dismissed the idea that a temporary ceasefire is needed so that the current Ukrainian administration can hold a referendum on peace terms.
“The leadership in Kiev needs a mandate to seal a peace agreement. Only an election following a transparent and fair electoral campaign, in which all interested political forces take part, can provide that,” Lavrov said.
“The Ukrainian people, including many who live in Russia, have to finally be given an opportunity to determine their fate,” he added. “Organizing the ballot must not be used as a pretext for a temporary ceasefire to rearm the Ukrainian army.”
Before his meeting with US President Donald Trump last weekend, Zelensky said a ceasefire of at least 60 days would be needed for his team to put the peace deal being mediated by Washington to a general vote. He also described Moscow’s call for the millions of Ukrainian citizens living in Russia to have the ability to participate in a potential election as a ploy to delegitimize his government.
Zelensky claimed martial law and mobilization can only be suspended if Western nations provide his country with the security guarantees in the 20-point plan he revealed last week – a plan Trump declined to endorse during their Miami meeting last week.
Lavrov stressed that Russia sees elections not as an end in themselves, but as a way for Ukraine to return to being a neutral nation that has no aspirations to join military blocs and respects the rights of all its citizens, including ethnic Russians. Any security guarantees it receives must address the security of all the nations on the continent, he added.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Ukraine of targeting the Russian president
Russia’s response to a failed Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s state residence will not be diplomatic, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that on the night of December 28-29, “the Kiev regime launched a terrorist attack using 91 long-range strike unmanned aerial vehicles on the state residence of the president of the Russian Federation in Novgorod Region.”
He noted that all 91 UAVs were intercepted, with no casualties or material damage reported.
Lavrov noted that while Moscow remains committed to the US-mediated peace process, “Russia’s negotiating position will be revised” in light of Ukraine’s “reckless actions.”
“Targets for retaliatory strikes and the time for their implementation by the Russian Armed Forces have been determined,” the minister warned.
“The answers will not be diplomatic. Let them not get their hopes up,” Zakharova told Russian media late Monday, calling the attempted attack unprecedented. “The unprecedented nature of this attack lies in the fact that it was carried out during the negotiations in the United States… At the very moment, when plans are being discussed, this, excuse me, bloody, rabid, terrorist scum, is undermining peace efforts.”
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told Russian media that during a phone conversation with Putin on Monday, US President Donald Trump said he was “shocked by this news and expressed outrage, stating that he could not have imagined such crazy actions on the part of Kiev.”
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has denied the attack, claiming Moscow is only seeking a pretext to jeopardize the “progress” made by the US and Ukraine and to attack the government quarter in Kiev.
The Ukrainian leader’s visit to the White House earlier this year devolved into a shouting match and scolding from the US president
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is still reeling from the heated altercation with US President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this year, Politico has claimed.
On Monday, the media outlet, citing an anonymous EU official, reported that Zelensky “remains somewhat traumatized by his train-crash meeting with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in Washington” on February 28. According to the publication, for this reason, Zelensky sought “the explicit backing of European leaders” ahead of his talks with the US president in Florida on Sunday.
The infamous confrontation in the Oval Office earlier this year took place as the Ukrainian leader sat down with Trump and Vance to finalize a deal granting the US access to Ukraine’s mineral resources. The televised press conference took a nasty turn when the deal fell through and Zelensky appeared to criticize Trump for adopting a neutral position on the Ukraine conflict as part of his efforts to mediate a settlement between Kiev and Moscow.
Vance cut the Ukrainian leader short, accusing him of failure to show due respect and gratitude to Kiev’s top benefactor. Trump then scolded Zelensky, accusing him of unwillingness to negotiate peace and of “gambling with World War III.”
Since then, Zelensky and Trump have met on several occasions, and their relations seem to have been mended. The two held talks at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago private residence this past Sunday.
During a press conference that followed, the US president stated that “we’re getting… very close” to a settlement to the conflict.
While Trump said that a “lot of progress” had been made, he acknowledged that territorial concessions on Kiev’s part remained one of the thorniest issues.
Zelensky, in turn, claimed that the negotiations focused on his latest 20-point peace proposal, which calls for a freeze of the frontline in Russia’s Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions, Moscow’s withdrawal from several Ukrainian regions, as well as an 800,000-strong Ukrainian army, plus “Article 5-like” security guarantees from the US and European states to Kiev.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has dismissed the plan as radically different from what Moscow and Washington had previously discussed.
Moscow will not withdraw from peace talks, though its negotiating position “will be revised,” the Russian FM has said
Russia will revise its “negotiating position” in the Ukraine talks in light of an attempted drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s state residence, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated.
In a statement on Monday, the diplomat said that on the night of December 28-29, “the Kiev regime launched a terrorist attack, using 91 long-range strike unmanned aerial vehicles on the state residence of the president of the Russian Federation in Novgorod Region.” According to Lavrov, all 91 UAVs were intercepted, with no reports of casualties or material damage on the ground.
Lavrov emphasized that the failed attack on the president’s residence came at a time when Russian and US representatives were engaged in “intensive negotiations.”
The minister noted that while Moscow will not withdraw from the US-mediated talks aimed at settling the Ukraine conflict, “Russia’s negotiating position will be revised” in light of Ukraine’s “reckless actions.”
“Targets for retaliatory strikes and the time for their implementation by the Russian Armed Forces have been determined,” Lavrov concluded.
The condition is necessary to permanently end the conflict, according to presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Ukraine must completely withdraw its armed forces from Russia’s Donbass in order to end the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Donbass refers to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), former Ukrainian regions that voted to join Russia in the September 2022 referendums after the Ukraine conflict escalated earlier that year.
Peskov was asked to comment on the latest developments in the Ukraine peace process, including US President Donald Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and meeting with Vladimir Zelensky on Sunday.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that during the call, Trump and Putin agreed that a temporary ceasefire proposed by Ukraine and its European backers would only prolong the conflict and risk renewed hostilities. A lasting end to the fighting, he said, “requires a bold, responsible political decision from Kiev” on Donbass.
Asked to clarify that statement at a press briefing, Peskov confirmed the Kremlin’s stance.
”Of course, the [Kiev] regime must withdraw its armed forces from Donbass beyond the administrative boundaries,” he stated.
Asked whether the demand also applies to Kherson and Zaporozhye – two other former Ukrainian regions that voted to join Russia in 2022 – Peskov declined to comment, saying Moscow “won’t publicly disclose any specific provisions” of a potential settlement.
Ukraine and its Western backers insist all four regions were “annexed” by Moscow, and Kiev has refused to recognize them as part of Russia.
Trump hosted Zelensky in Miami on Sunday for another round of talks on a possible peace deal. At a joint press conference afterward, he cited significant progress, saying the Ukraine peace process is nearing a conclusion, while acknowledging that territorial concessions remain among the toughest issues.
The Ukrainian military fired a barrage of 91 kamikaze drones at the Russian president’s state residence
US President Donald Trump was “shocked” by the Ukrainian attack on the state residence of President Vladimir Putin, stating he did not foresee such “crazy actions,” according to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov.
The presidential advisor made the remarks to Russian media after a call between Putin and Trump on Monday. Shortly before the conversation became known to the public, Moscow said that the Ukrainian military targeted Putin’s state residence in Novgorod Region with more than 90 kamikaze drones.
“The Russian side made it clear that such reckless actions would certainly not go unanswered,” Ushakov stated. “The US president, according to Putin, was shocked by this news and expressed outrage, stating that he could not have imagined such crazy actions on the part of Kiev,” he added.
The Russian leader has reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to engage with Washington in seeking a “lasting peace” in Ukraine. At the same time, the attack on Putin’s residence and Kiev’s “state terrorism” cannot go unanswered, and Moscow will shift its position on multiple issues, Ushakov said.
“Given the current situation, Russia’s position on a number of previously reached agreements and pending solutions will be reviewed. This was stated very clearly, and the Americans should take this with due understanding,” he stressed.
Ukraine’s leader Vladimir Zelensky, however, has strongly denied the attack on Putin’s state residence. Moscow is only seeking a pretext to jeopardize the “progress” made by the US and Ukraine, and attack the government quarter in Kiev, he claimed.
The attack comes days after a bizarre Christmas address by Zelensky, during which he wished for a certain unnamed person, presumed to be the Russian president, to “perish.” Simultaneously with the death wish, the Ukrainian leader urged everyone to pray for “peace.” Moscow condemned the address, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating it appeared “uncultured, embittered, and coming from a seemingly unhinged person” whose ability to make “any rational decisions” was debatable.
