KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� A Ukrainian anti-corruption agency said Tuesday it has detained five people and identified seven other suspects in a major graft investigation that is centering on alleged kickbacks worth some $100 million in the country鈥檚 energy sector.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau did not name the suspects in its statement but said they included a businessman believed to be the scheme鈥檚 mastermind; a former advisor to the country鈥檚 energy minister; and an executive of national atomic energy company Energoatom.
The statement came a day after the agency revealed some details of a 15-month investigation into suspected energy sector corruption, including at Energoatom.
Large amounts of Ukrainian and foreign funds have flowed into the energy sector as infrastructure is repeatedly repaired following . Ukraine鈥檚 Energy Ministry said Tuesday that Russia attacked energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv, Odesa and Donetsk regions overnight and that scheduled power outages were in place in most regions of Ukraine.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau is tasked with rooting out entrenched corruption, which is widely regarded as an impediment to Kyiv鈥檚 efforts to obtain membership in the European Union. It targets high-level corruption, particularly cases involving senior officials and state-owned enterprises.
It has previously reported uncovering a major graft scheme involving and the embezzlement of millions of dollars鈥� worth of funds for Ukraine鈥檚 efforts to foil .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the latest probe. 鈥淎ny effective action against corruption is an urgent need,鈥� he said in his Monday night address to the nation.
He urged government officials to cooperate with investigators.
Zelenskyy has also faced public disapproval over the issue of graft. He last month on a law that would have curbed the independence of the country鈥檚 anti-corruption watchdogs after widespread street protests. EU officials also pressed him to change his mind.
The anti-graft investigators allege that Energoatom鈥檚 suppliers were forced to pay bribes, amounting to between 10% and 15% of a contract鈥檚 value, to keep providing services and goods to the company.
They also suspect that several high-ranking officials used their connections to 鈥渕aintain control over personnel decisions, procurement processes and the flow of financial resources鈥� to run the kickback scheme.
Energoatom, a state-owned enterprise which generates more than a half of Ukraine鈥檚 energy supply, said in a statement that the probe has not disrupted production or operational safety.
Meanwhile, Ukraine鈥檚 general staff claimed Tuesday its forces struck two Russian oil refineries and an oil terminal as part of its long-range drone campaign to for its war effort.
Ukrainian forces hit Russia鈥檚 Saratov oil refinery overnight for the fifth time in recent months, starting what it called a 鈥渕assive fire,鈥� the general staff said. Another target was the Orsknefteorgsintez refinery, which produces over 30 types of petroleum products and supplies the Russian military, it said.
Ukrainian forces also attacked an oil terminal in the port of Feodosia, in Russian-occupied Crimea. The terminal is used to supply fuel and lubricants to the occupied peninsula and parts of southern Ukraine.
In Moscow, Russia鈥檚 Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, claimed Tuesday that it had thwarted a Ukrainian intelligence plot to recruit Russian pilots and hijack a MiG-31 fighter jet carrying a hypersonic Kinzhal missile.
The FSB routinely claims to have thwarted plots against Russia, usually without providing any evidence. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.
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