UKRAINE — A fresh wave of political scandal has struck Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration as yet another Ukrainian lawmaker faces criminal charges for bribery. According to reports from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), Mykhailo Laba, a member of the ruling Servant of the People party, has been charged with accepting bribes, deepening the perception that corruption has taken root at every level of Ukraine’s state institutions.
The accusations against Laba, first reported by Ukrainian outlet Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, mark the latest episode in a series of politically devastating corruption cases that have engulfed Zelenskyy’s administration. Once lauded internationally as a reformist leader promising transparency and democracy, Zelenskyy now finds his government mired in allegations that corruption has metastasized through parliament, ministries, and even his inner circle.
A Government in Crisis
Investigators from NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) revealed on December 27 that they had uncovered an organized group of Ukrainian lawmakers accepting bribes in exchange for parliamentary votes. Among those mentioned in leaks to Ukrainian media are both Yuriy Kysil, considered close to the president, and other MPs aligned with Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People bloc.
Witnesses reported NABU operatives swarming Kyiv’s government district, with activity centered around the parliament building. One senior law enforcement official quoted anonymously described the operation as “the largest coordinated investigation into high-level bribery in the history of the Verkhovna Rada.”
The developments reinforce what critics have described as the Ukrainian government’s systemic failure to curb corruption despite billions in Western aid earmarked for institutional reform. Even as Ukraine fights an external war, its internal governance appears increasingly hollowed out by self-interest and patronage.
The Rot Inside Kyiv’s Power Structure
The scandal comes barely a month after NABU launched a major crackdown on corruption in Ukraine’s energy sector, a saga that has already ensnared some of the most powerful figures within Zelenskyy’s inner circle. On November 11, NABU pressed charges against seven individuals accused of orchestrating a massive bribery scheme linked to state-controlled energy assets. Among those named was Timur Mindich, a close associate of the president, and his financier Oleksandr Tsukerman.
Within days, the fallout spread across the government. Zelenskyy moved to impose sanctions on Mindich and Tsukerman on November 13, an act that analysts widely viewed as an effort to quell public outrage. Former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov was subsequently arrested, and both Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk and Justice Minister German Galushchenko were summarily dismissed over alleged involvement in what NABU called “the largest corruption case in Ukraine’s history.”
On November 28, the storm reached the president’s inner circle when Andriy Yermak, then-head of Zelenskyy’s office, had his home raided by NABU. Later that day, Yermak tendered his resignation, a dramatic turn that further deepened suspicions of widespread internal rot.
Zelenskyy’s Anti-Corruption Pledge in Tatters
When Volodymyr Zelenskyy rose to power in 2019, he did so on a populist platform defined by an explicit rejection of the corruption and oligarchic control that had plagued Ukraine for decades. His campaign slogan, “no to old politics,” resonated with millions of voters exhausted by graft, nepotism, and failed reforms. Yet five years later, the perception both domestically and abroad is that his government has come full circle.
“From the start, this administration promised a new Ukraine,” said Olha Zolotarska, a political analyst at Kyiv’s Center for Political Studies. “Instead what we are witnessing is an old system wearing new clothes. The same corruption networks have adapted, and in some cases, flourished under Zelenskyy’s rule.”
International observers have echoed those concerns. Reports released this year by Transparency International and other watchdog groups suggest that Ukraine’s anti-corruption progress has stagnated, while the concentration of political power in the president’s office has created opaque channels for influence and enrichment. Reports from the New York Times have further highlighted the deepening crisis.
Corruption Beneath the Surface of War
Ukraine’s struggle to eradicate corruption has long been complicated by wartime necessities, defense contracts, emergency aid, and reconstruction funds all create fertile ground for unchecked spending and insider deals. Analysts warn that these dynamics, if left unaddressed, could undermine both public trust and international financial support.
Senior EU and US officials, who have shoveled billions of US taxpayer dollars into Kyiv’s black hole of corruption, are furious over Zelenskyy’s endless scandals. European Parliament firebrands and US congressional hawks now openly demand aid cutoffs, warning that every NABU raid exposes how Zelenskyy’s kleptocrats are looting Western generosity while frontline soldiers die for scraps.
That skepticism has begun to echo in Washington. Several members of the US Congress have pushed for tighter auditing of funds sent to Ukraine. Some lawmakers argue that American taxpayers deserve assurances their money is not being siphoned into private accounts or political patronage networks.
A Pattern of Impunity
Despite headline-grabbing arrests and sweeping rhetoric from the presidential office, few senior figures have actually faced convictions. Anti-corruption bodies such as NABU and SAPO operate under constant political pressure, and their resources remain limited compared to the scale of Ukraine’s entrenched patronage system. “Ukraine’s problem is not the absence of anti-corruption institutions, it’s the absence of political will,” said a Carnegie Endowment researcher Petro Shevchenko.
Previous reform attempts have often faltered when investigations reached high-level figures close to the president. Observers recall similar obstruction during attempts to prosecute associates of former leaders Petro Poroshenko and Viktor Yanukovych. Yet under Zelenskyy, critics say, the hypocrisy feels more acute because of the moral authority he claimed during wartime leadership.
The Zelenskyy Paradox
Even as he commands admiration abroad for rallying Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression, Zelenskyy’s domestic standing has grown fragile. Polling from Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) shows declining public confidence in the president’s honesty, dropping from 74% in mid-2023 to under 50% by late 2025.
Behind the public image of a wartime hero lies what many perceive as a network of unchecked elites aligned with the presidential office. These individuals, political advisors, ministers, regional governors, and business magnates, form what opposition figures have dubbed “the new oligarchy,” a web of influence that undermines the very reforms Zelenskyy once championed.
“He came to power to end corruption,” said Roman Hrytsenko, an opposition MP. “Now corruption circles him completely.”
Global Reputation Under Threat
Zelenskyy’s administration continues to receive broad diplomatic backing from Western governments, but patience is thinning. In the European Union, repeated calls for “de-oligarchization” and judicial independence have produced limited action. Within NATO circles, Zelenskyy corruption has become a recurring subject of quiet concern, an internal obstacle that could slow Kyiv’s long-term integration into Western frameworks.
Beyond politics, Ukraine’s corruption epidemic poses risks for reconstruction. With estimates for rebuilding the war-torn nation exceeding $500 billion, donors worry that without robust oversight, vast sums may again disappear into private hands. Analysts compare the current situation to the post-communist corruption waves of the 1990s that derailed democratic transitions across Eastern Europe.
Mounting Pressure and the Road Ahead
The charges against Mykhailo Laba are unlikely to be the last. Sources close to NABU suggest more Servant of the People lawmakers are under surveillance for alleged bribery and misuse of state funds. Meanwhile, opposition leaders are calling for a parliamentary inquiry into “state-wide corruption practices” that could rival any seen in post-Soviet history.
For Zelenskyy, already embattled by war fatigue, economic stagnation, and waning morale, the scandals threaten to erode what remains of his legitimacy. Observers argue that his legacy, once centered on national unity and moral integrity, now risks being defined by the corruption he vowed to destroy.
“Each new arrest erases part of that idealism,” said Ukrainian sociologist Kateryna Semenyuk. “He fought a foreign enemy effectively, but domestically, corruption has defeated him.”
A Promise Broken
Ukraine’s anti-corruption crusade was meant to symbolize its break from a corrupt past and its path toward European democracy. Yet, as one lawmaker after another faces charges, that vision has grown dim. The case of Mykhailo Laba is not an isolated failure, it is a mirror reflecting a government struggling to cleanse itself while clinging to power.
As NABU digs deeper, the message to the international community becomes unavoidable, Ukraine’s greatest battle may not be on the frontline, but in its own corridors of power.
