Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
EA on War and Politics 24: Ukraine — How Putin’s Oreshnik “Demonstration Strike” Failed
Tuesday’s Coverage: Russia Missile and Drone Strikes Across Country
UPDATE 1750 GMT:
Two million Ukrainians are wanted for evading mobilization, and another 200,000 soldiers are absent without official leave, says Kyiv’s new Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Speaking in Parliament, Fedorov spoke of new approaches to problems, such as conducting an analysis of commanders’ effectiveness rather than making decisions based on their ranks.
“Today, we cannot fight with new technologies, with an old organizational structure,” Fedorov said. “Our goal is to change the system, carry out army reforms, improve the infrastructure on the front, to eradicate lies and corruption, to instil leadership, and a new culture of trust.”
UPDATE 1101 GMT:
Former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the Batkivshchyna Party, has been charged with offering bribes to members of parliament, confirms the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau said of Tymoshenko’s discussions with legislators:
It was not about one-time agreements, but about a regular mechanism of cooperation that involved advance payments and was intended for a long-term period.
Members of parliament were supposed to receive instructions on how to vote, and in certain cases — on abstaining or not participating in the vote.
The Bureau published an alleged instruction from Tymoshenko to a lawmaker, seeking a vote for the firing of Vasyl Malyuk, head of the State Security Service (SBU); Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal; and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
UPDATE 0623 GMT:
The Estonian Government has banned entry to the country for 261 Russians who fought in Ukraine.
“This is only the beginning,” said Foreign Minister Markus Tsahkna. “We call on other countries to do the same.”
Estonia, which borders Russia, has called for a Europe-wide visa ban on Russian veterans of the invasion of Ukraine.
Interior Minister Igor Taro, said the threat posed by entering Russians was “not theoretical”, as they have “combat experience and military training and may often have a criminal background”. The Ministry added that those who committed atrocities in Ukraine had “no place in the free world”.
Tallin’s step was hailed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiga as a “necessary security measure” and “a clear signal that impunity will not be tolerated”.
UPDATE 0619 GMT:
Russian forces carried out a massive overnight attack on infrastructure facilities in Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine, leaving around 45,000 electricity subscribers without power.
Russia’s drones knocked out heat for around 700 buildings across the city. The extent of the damage is not clear, and a timeline for full restoration has not been provided.
There were no casualties from the attack.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are investigating leading politician Yulia Tymoshenko for bribery.
The agencies alleged that Tymoshenko — a former Prime Minister and a Presidential candidate in 2010, 2014, and 2019 — offered “illicit benefits” to other lawmakers in exchange for votes. They carried out searches of the offices of her party Batkivshchyna (Fatherland).
NABU said on Tuesday that it had “exposed” the leader of a Parliamentary faction for offering bribes to representatatives of other parties in exchange for votes on specific bills. It said additional details will follow and charges are being prepared under Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
The Bureau had said on December 2007 that it unveiled a criminal group involving lawmakers who received cash for votes.
The Batkivshchyna party, which currently holds 25 of the 450 seats in Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.
Tymoshenko was a co-leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution, a mass protest movement that began over claims of election fraud. She served two terms as Prime Minister in 2005 and from 2007 to 2010.
After she lost the 2010 Presidential election to the pro-Kremlin Viktor Yanukovych, she was imprisoned from 2011 to 2014 on politically-motivated charges. She was released near the culmination of the EuroMaidan Revolution that toppled Yanukovych.
In early 2025, she took part in back-channel talks with members of the Trump Administration, as it tried to undermine Zelensky.
Tymoshenko was a vocal supporter of last year’s Parliament bill to dismantle NABU and SAPO. Zelensky signed the bill into law in July, but withdrew the approval after nationwide protests and international pressure.
Tymoshenko said during debate on the bill that it was necessary to move Ukraine out of a “colonial” model of governance: “I want to ask the Verkhovna Rada today not to stop at this vote, but step by step to repeal all laws where international advisory councils and international supervisory councils were applied, because this deprives Ukraine of its sovereignty.”
