Ukraine sacks energy and justice ministers over $100m corruption scandal

Ukraine’s parliament voted on Wednesday to remove both the energy and justice ministers from their posts, following a sweeping corruption probe in the energy sector that has triggered the country’s most serious political crisis since the war began.

The investigation centres on an alleged $100 million scheme linked to contracting at the state-run nuclear agency, fuelling public outrage at the government at a time when Ukraine is still battling Russian troops.

Justice Minister German Galushchenko who held the energy portfolio from 2021 to 2025 and current Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk had already stepped down after coming under pressure from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Both ministers have rejected accusations of involvement in the affair.

Opposition blocs have demanded harsher action after the inquiry shook Kyiv’s political establishment, urging a complete overhaul of the government and the removal of Zelenskyy’s influential chief of staff.

According to anti-corruption officials, the investigation whose main suspect is a former business associate of Zelenskyy extends to several other government bodies.

The scandal, combined with growing claims that the president’s office is using the courts to intimidate opponents, poses a major challenge for Zelenskyy nearly four years into Russia’s invasion.

These pressures come at a pivotal moment for Zelenskyy, who has remained widely supported and largely unopposed since the war erupted in 2022.

It also shows how strained the tightrope that Ukraine has been forced to walk, between centralising power to run the war and forging on with democratic reforms key to joining the EU, is becoming.

The latest case to trigger accusations that Zelenskyy’s team is weaponising the judicial system to intimidate critics was last month’s arrest of Volodymyr Kudrytsky, who led national energy company Ukrenergo until last year, on embezzlement accusations.

Kudrytsky and his backers reject the claims as retribution for criticising Ukraine’s strategy to defend the energy grid from Russian attacks.

With inputs from agencies