Ukrainian Minister Arrested for Taking Half Million Dollar Bribe

A Ukrainian deputy energy minister has been arrested over taking a bribe worth half a million dollars. He was arrested along with three alleged accomplices, Ukraine’s SBU Security Service declared on Monday.

The minister unnamed by the SBU allegedly demanded the bribe from mining industry officials to transfer equipment from mines in the frontline eastern Donetsk region to a coal basin in western Ukraine.

“In the spring of 2024, industry representatives approached the deputy energy minister to obtain permission to evacuate the equipment from the war zone and use it at mines in a western region,” the SBU statement said.

“However, the official, whose duties included the preservation of mining equipment, demanded money for its removal,” it said.

The minister took the payment with the help of three alleged accomplices, all of whom were caught “red handed”, stated the SBU statement.

The Ukrainian opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak named the minister as Oleksandr Kheilo, a deputy energy minister. Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers later issued an order to dismiss Kheilo from his post, according to a government Telegram channel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked a number of officials including his defence minister in 2023 over corruption scandals in the army.