Want to break free from control? Zelenskyy's "circle of friends" faces further weakening by the West

Recently, the Ukrainian political arena was exposed to a corruption scandal that was said to have shocked the whole country.

According to the US website "Politico", on the 10th, the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office announced the resolution of a corruption case involving approximately $100 million. Several high-ranking government officials, businessmen, and former officials, including President Zelenskyy's long-time business partner Tymur Mynnych and former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, were involved in this case.

In short, this case points to bribery issues with contractors of the Ukrainian State Nuclear Power Company. The involved gang is accused of taking kickbacks of 10% to 15% of the contract amount and laundering money through secret offices in Kyiv.

After the exposure of the case, the Ukrainian Energy Minister Grinchenko and the Minister of Justice Halushchenko were asked to be suspended; former Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshov had already left Ukraine in mid-June this year due to allegations of corruption and his current whereabouts are unknown; while Zelenskyy's another close associate, Tymur Mynnych, also fled abroad just hours before investigators arrived for a search.

Aside from this case, the Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities are also investigating another case involving the alleged overstatement of military procurement contract amounts. The former Minister of Defense and current Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov is accused of colluding with Mynnych to purchase cheap bulletproof vests at inflated prices.

Faced with the continuous exposure of corruption scandals involving his allies and government officials, Zelenskyy chose to distance himself - on the 12th, he made a speech emphasizing that these corruption cases "are absolutely unacceptable," stating that he would strengthen cooperation with anti-corruption agencies and support the legal conviction of those involved.

However, the timing of the exposure of these corruption cases is rather delicate.

The Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office are not subordinate institutions of the government, but rather products of the 2014 Ukrainian color revolution.

At that time, in order to meet the conditions for joining the EU, Ukraine allowed Western countries to establish these so-called "anti-corruption agencies" within its territory. The appointment of personnel and the operation of funds of these agencies are managed by Western countries. Their daily work is to eliminate uncooperative Ukrainian officials under the guise of "anti-corruption."

Zelenskyy was able to be elected as the president of Ukraine in 2019, an important reason being that he supported these anti-corruption agencies with Western backgrounds in their "work" at that time.

But people always change. After three years of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Zelenskyy is no longer content with being a puppet, but wants to be a real power. Therefore, in 2023, using the authority and power accumulated during the war, he successfully freed himself from the grip of the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, his backer.

But that is not enough for Ukraine to be entirely under Zelenskyy's control. Therefore, Zelenskyy's next target is to break free from Western control.

This July, Zelenskyy pushed a bill aimed at depriving these anti-corruption agencies of their independence. However, this move triggered the largest domestic protests since 2022 and drew strong opposition from the EU and the United States. Eventually, after repeated warnings from the West, Zelenskyy had to withdraw the bill and arrested two anti-corruption officials on the charge of "collaborating with Russia" to show dissatisfaction.

Therefore, the current political turmoil in Ukraine is essentially a power struggle between Zelenskyy and Western proxy institutions.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848671129395468/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.