Mutiny metals series#

Ukraine is scheduled to hold elections in the spring of 2024 and, while the war could push it back indefinitely, the spate of corruption-related arrests will undoubtedly bolster Zelenskiy's ratings.įor those politicians in Washington who back aid to Ukraine, Kolomoyskiy's arrest is a 'wonderful talking point,' Herbst said.Ĭongress is currently debating whether to approve President Joe Biden's $40 billion emergency spending bill, more than half of which will go toward crucial military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as it tries to drive Russian forces out of its territory.Ī vocal minority of Republicans have balked at giving so much aid to Ukraine, often highlighting the country's notorious reputation for corruption despite notable improvements in anti-graft reform and investigations. In an interview with Current Time - the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA - Vladimir Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst, said his arrest was 'a demonstration that there are no untouchables.' Tetiana Shevchuk, Anti-Corruption Action Center While Ukrainian leaders have for decades promised to tackle corruption with little to show for all their talk, the issue has grown in urgency since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Mutiny metals series#

The dramatic jailing of Kolomoyskiy, once the nation's third-richest man according to Forbes, is the latest in a series of high-profile arrests in Ukraine over the past year as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tries to portray himself as an anti-corruption crusader. ambassador to Ukraine, told RFE/RL.īut Kolomoyskiy's Teflon-like ability to escape criminal consequences for decades may have come to an end on September 2, when he was arrested in Ukraine on suspicion of fraud and money laundering in relation to a state-owned company and handed a 60-day, pretrial detention. He is the one protecting corrupt interests against the reform tide,' John Herbst, the former U.S. 'He is really numero uno in terms of doing active damage. The 60-year-old businessman, who is blacklisted by the United States, has over the years sent armed men to take over companies, threatened officials, cheated state-owned companies, and bought off parliamentarians to stall crucial Western-backed reforms, among other brazen acts. For right or wrong, Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskiy has come to epitomize for many in Washington and Brussels the endemic corruption that has held Ukraine back economically and politically since its independence more than three decades ago.