MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Ukraine is dealing with a massive corruption scandal at the same time it is engaged in high-stakes peace talks with the U.S. and Russia. The scandal has proven a challenge for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It's not clear, though, whether it has actually weakened him or weakened Ukraine's hopes of joining the European Union. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley brings us this report on how Ukrainians feel about this moment.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Operation Midas dropped like a different kind of bombshell on Ukraine last month. The national anticorruption agency released this slickly produced five-part series on YouTube explaining its year-long investigation into fraud at Ukraine's state nuclear power giant Energoatom.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: Shocked Ukrainians tuned in, as if to a Netflix drama. Wiretapped conversations between officials with code names like Che Guevara and Sugarman, who the agency said had siphoned off $100 million allocated for structures to protect energy facilities from Russian missile attacks. Opposition parliamentarian Inna Sovsun said she heard there was corruption in the energy sector but had no idea it was so deep and systemic.
INNA SOVSUN: It was basically a whole system set up, not just some random bribes taking place.
(SOUNDBITE OF GENERATOR HUMMING)
BEARDSLEY: Generators hum on the sidewalks across Kyiv, and people plan their lives around the scheduled rolling blackouts. The scandal stings even more because Ukrainians go hours without power as their energy grid is being damaged by constant attacks. Seven people are now under investigation, according to anticorruption bureau NABU. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself has not been implicated, but last week, Zelenskyy had to let his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, go after investigators searched his home.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: Zelenskyy told the nation, "nothing should distract us from defending Ukraine. Russia wants us to make mistakes. We will make none," he said. Lawmaker Sovsun says Ukrainians are frustrated, but they're still united behind Zelenskyy.
SOVSUN: The government decided to fire two ministers who were involved in the scandal directly. Then the president decided to fire Yermak. Is that enough? Well, for the time being, it is probably, while we are waiting for further details.
BEARDSLEY: Ukrainians take fighting corruption seriously, says Jakub Parusinski, a geopolitical analyst with research center KI Insights.
JAKUB PARUSINSKI: Historically, it is the thing that sort of distinguishes Ukraine from Russia, but it's also something that has a very sort of emotional appeal for a lot of Ukrainians.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
BEARDSLEY: Emotional because of their hope to join the European Union. Over the summer, thousands of people came out in protest when the government tried to chip away at the independence of Ukraine's anticorruption bureau.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
BEARDSLEY: Young protesters saw Ukraine's future in the EU and understand reducing corruption is a key condition for getting in.
OLEKSANDR ABAKUMOV: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: Eleanor.
ABAKUMOV: Oleksandr.
BEARDSLEY: We visit the offices of anticorruption agency NABU, where we speak to the star of the ominous videos, Detective Oleksandr Abakumov, who wears a big smile and a handcuffs pin on his lapel.
ABAKUMOV: (Through interpreter) Everybody understands that Ukraine has chosen its European path. It's no longer a story about a corrupt country, but about a country that fights corruption.
DMYTRO KOZATSKY: Hey. Nice to meet you.
BEARDSLEY: Nice to meet you, too.
Dmytro Kozatsky agrees. The 30-year-old former soldier says it was a shock when the anticorruption bureau's independence came under threat this summer. He joined the protests. He says the current investigation must go to the end.
KOZATSKY: In my opinion, the actual possibility of such operations to exist and to exist during the full-scale invasion, it shows that Ukrainian democracy is as strong as possible.
BEARDSLEY: Operation Midas, he says, could never take place in Russia.
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kyiv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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