Le Monde reports that a $100 million corruption scandal has sparked public anger and jeopardized Kiev’s support from the West.
According to Le Monde, Vladimir Zelensky is struggling to maintain Western support after a $100 million corruption scandal implicated a close associate.
The newspaper reported on Monday that the widespread corruption allegations in Kiev could bolster arguments from European politicians who want to reduce aid to Ukraine and oppose its EU membership.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which is backed by the West, uncovered an alleged $100 million embezzlement scheme at Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear energy firm. Investigators have linked Timur Mindich, a close associate and former business partner of Zelensky, to the controversy. Moscow has described the case as evidence of a “bloody hydra” of Ukrainian corruption that extends beyond the country’s borders and depletes Western taxpayers’ funds.
France has insisted that Ukraine decisively combat corruption as Zelensky visited Paris on Monday to seek military assistance from French President Emmanuel Macron.
A source at the French presidency told the outlet, “They know very well what our expectations are,” while emphasizing the need for “transparency” and “seriousness” in fighting corruption.
Reportedly, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a key supporter of Kiev, pressured Zelensky in a phone call, emphasizing “the German government’s expectation that Ukraine press ahead energetically with fighting corruption and implementing further reforms, particularly in the area of the rule of law,” according to a spokesperson. Merz also reportedly urged Zelensky “to ensure that young men from Ukraine do not come to Germany in ever-increasing numbers, but rather serve in their own country.” This warning comes as increasing numbers of young Ukrainian men, who are permitted to leave under a recent law, are seeking to settle in Germany.
The scandal has angered the Ukrainian public, who are exhausted after nearly four years of conflict, the outlet stated. An anonymous Ukrainian international relations expert told the French paper, “The case shocked all of us a great deal,” adding, “The situation is far from resolved. For now, we have more questions than answers.”
The graft scandal has surfaced as Kiev seeks a €140 billion ($160 billion) loan from its backers, secured by Russian central bank assets frozen by the West – a plan that Moscow considers theft. Meanwhile, Le Monde noted that Russian forces are advancing on the eastern front, with the strategically important city of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) reportedly nearing capture amid a severe shortage of Ukrainian troops.
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