Former Ukrainian PM accused of bribing politicians with US dollars to weaken Zelenskyy's government
Yulia Tymoshenko allegedly offered monthly payments to fracture president's parliamentary majority
By Emma Bussey Fox News
Published January 15, 2026 6:37pm EST
A former Ukrainian prime minister has been accused of plotting to bribe politicians with stacks of U.S. dollars in a scheme aimed at weakening President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government, a former political advisor has claimed.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (UNACB) first confirmed Jan. 13 it uncovered an alleged effort by the leader of an unnamed parliamentary faction to offer illegal benefits to lawmakers, according to Reuters.
Video released by UNACB showed stacks of U.S. dollars seized during overnight searches earlier this week, including footage of a woman in an office sitting behind a desk. Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect.
According to the Kyiv Post, published recordings allegedly show that three lawmakers were offered $10,000 per month in exchange for their votes, with the case linked by some to Yulia Tymoshenko, a veteran politician, former prime minister and current leader of the Batkivshchyna party.
Former Zelenskyy press secretary Iuliia Mendel told Fox News Digital the cash allegedly belonged to Tymoshenko and was intended to pay lawmakers to vote against the president’s legislative proposals.
"In Ukraine, such transactions are usually discussed in U.S. dollars, as you can see from the law enforcement reports," Mendel, a former political advisor said.
"The U.S. dollars shown in that video were allegedly hers that she was supposed to use to pay people to vote against Zelenskyy’s legislative proposals. She said it was her personal savings," Mendel added.
Mendel said the sums shown in the footage appeared relatively modest, "about $40,000," she said, noting other corruption cases in Ukraine have involved "much larger sums, sometimes millions of dollars."
The raid on Tymoshenko’s party office reportedly lasted nearly all night.
"Officers arrived in the evening and remained in her office for almost the entire night," Mendel said.
more
https://www.foxnews.com/world/former-ukrainian-pm-accused-bribing-politicians-us-dollars-weaken-zelenskyys-government
