Corruption scandal rocks Ukraine as it fights for survival against Russia’s invasion

Amna Nawaz:

A sprawling energy sector corruption scandal is rocking Ukraine. Last Friday, the country was shocked by the exit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, also Ukraine's second most powerful man. He resigned after the state anti-corruption body raided his home.

As special correspondent Jack Hewson explains, it's a crisis striking at the heart of government as the country fights for survival against Russia's brutal invasion.

Jack Hewson:

As Ukraine's government scrambles to contain a corruption scandal, Kyiv residents are left to sweep up the shards of another night of Russian attacks.

This block in Kyiv's outer suburbs was shredded by an Iranian-designed Shahed drone, windows punched out, cars upturned. Amid the wreckage, we meet Pavlo, displaced from Donetsk, already grieving his son killed just months ago.

Pavlo Budarev, Kyiv Resident (through translator):

My son was volunteering. The Russians hit him with a drone right in his car. He was delivering food in Kramatorsk, 4.5 kilometers from home.

Jack Hewson:

Pavlo fled the east for the safety of Kyiv, but Russia's drones have followed him here. He tells us how he stood awake in his living room listening as they came. Eyewitness footage shows the moment of impact.

Pavlo Budarev (through translator):

I heard the sound of a Shahed getting louder. It came from over there, then an explosion. A car flew into the air. I was thrown backwards onto the sofa in my living room.

Jack Hewson:

It seems like these that the residents of Kyiv are increasingly waking up to as Russian missiles and drones hit their cities nearly every night. Tonight's been a particularly heavy one. It's been 10 hours and 31 minutes of alarm over the course of this evening. I was staying in Central Kyiv, woken up pretty much every 20 minutes by booms in the distance.

And I'm just a visitor. If you have got to live with this night after night, it grinds you down, and that's exactly what the Russians are seeking to achieve.

The Shahed that hit this courtyard is the same as those hitting power stations taking out electricity to millions. And Russia's onslaught is being exacerbated by corruption. The scandal centers around Timur Mindich, Zelenskyy's former media business partner, and a number of Cabinet members, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov.

The group were accused by investigators of embezzling public money that should have been spent on repairing Ukraine's energy grid. Then, on Friday, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, was raided. It's not confirmed if it was in connection with the energy scandal, but he has since resigned.

All involved are close to Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy came to office six years ago on a wave of popular revulsion against corruption. For decades, Ukraine has been synonymous with the word, and Zelenskyy's promise of a new leader untethered to the system led to a landslide.

Now that bubble has burst bitterly. Anti-corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk says public suspicions of the president's office have increased since the summer, when Zelenskyy's government tried to neuter the anti-corruption agencies. Protests then erupted, forcing Zelenskyy into an immediate U-turn.

Daria Kaleniuk, Anti-Corruption Action Center:

This is the closest square to the office of president, so you can see here, I guess, 10,000 people were here during the summer rallies.

Jack Hewson:

Since then, investigators have exposed a $100 million kickback scheme within Ukraine state nuclear energy Energoatom. The scheme allegedly forced contractors to pay 10 to 15 percent kickbacks, delaying repair works.

Daria Kaleniuk:

They have delayed the construction in order to have larger kickbacks. They don't care about this country.They just care about easy money, self-enrichment. People of Ukraine are outraged.

Jack Hewson:

As a direct result of corruption, millions of Ukrainians face longer, colder blackout conditions. Up 22 stories, and with no electricity, meaning no elevator, lives Anna Svyatoslav with her son. They face daily outages.

Anna Svyatoslav, Kyiv Resident (through translator):

Everything depends on electricity, water, food that cannot be heated, warmed up or cooked. We can't even wash our hands or take care of other needs, toilet, bathroom and so on. There is absolutely no water for that either. And there is no heating.

Jack Hewson:

In one instance in 2022, Anna says they went three days without electricity. She blames Russia first for bombing them, but the news of the scandal aggravating their suffering has angered her, like millions of others.

Anna Svyatoslav (through translator):

When you are thinking about how to keep your child warm and just normal, so that your child has decent conditions, and then you hear what they say is going on in government, they used to chop off hands for that.

Jack Hewson:

While the Ukrainian people shiver in the dark, political pressure is growing on the presidency. Under Zelenskyy, power has been consolidated around the president's office and his erstwhile chief of staff. The public outcry and the ouster of Yermak means opposition M.P.s like Oleksiy Goncharenko want decentralization and reform.

And suspicions are growing about Zelenskyy's involvement.

Do you think Zelenskyy was in full knowledge of what was going on?

Oleksiy Goncharenko, Ukrainian Parliament Member:

I hope not. But I don't know. But it's something which investigation should answer. But he was definitely, absolutely aware of what the system Yermak was building. Because he was building it under his orders. Orders were coming from Zelenskyy. I am absolutely sure about this.

So don't be fooled that it was like Zelenskyy who he didn't know, who was so busy abroad and so on. It's not true.

Jack Hewson:

But damage to Zelenskyy is also damaged to Ukraine's position on the international stage. It allows Putin to delegitimize Ukraine as corrupt and frustrates Ukraine's Western allies that wanted an anti-corruption drive as a condition of aid.

Speaking last month, Zelenskyy called for unity and calm.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President (through translator):

Everyone, we need to get together, come to our senses. Stop the quarreling.

Jack Hewson:

There is an unspoken pact between the Ukrainian people and their president to temper their criticism in a time of darkness and war. But with the people's suffering now being compounded by their own politicians, patience is running thin.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jack Hewson in Kyiv, Ukraine.