A former Ukrainian prime minister is at the center of allegations involving a scheme to bribe politicians with U.S. dollars in an attempt to destabilize President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration, according to claims made by a former political advisor.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced on January 13 that it uncovered a scheme purportedly orchestrated by the leader of an unmentioned parliamentary faction to illegally sway lawmakers, as reported by Reuters.
NABU released video footage showing piles of U.S. currency seized during recent overnight raids. The footage includes a scene of a woman sitting at a desk in an office. Authorities have not publicly identified the individual involved.
The Kyiv Post reported that recordings suggest three lawmakers were offered $10,000 monthly in exchange for their support, with the case potentially implicating Yulia Tymoshenko, a seasoned politician, former prime minister, and current head of the Batkivshchyna party.
Yulia Tymoshenko faces allegations of bribing legislators to undermine Zelenskyy. (Reuters/Andrii Nesterenko)
Former press secretary to Zelenskyy, Iuliia Mendel, informed Fox News Digital that the money allegedly originated from Tymoshenko and was meant to influence lawmakers to oppose the president’s proposed legislation.
“In Ukraine, such transactions are usually discussed in U.S. dollars, as you can see from the law enforcement reports,” Mendel, a former political advisor said.
“The U.S. dollars shown in that video were allegedly hers that she was supposed to use to pay people to vote against Zelenskyy’s legislative proposals. She said it was her personal savings,” Mendel added.
Mendel said the sums shown in the footage appeared relatively modest, “about $40,000,” she said, noting other corruption cases in Ukraine have involved “much larger sums, sometimes millions of dollars.”
The raid on Tymoshenko’s party office reportedly lasted nearly all night.
“Officers arrived in the evening and remained in her office for almost the entire night,” Mendel said.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, during a meeting in London Oct. 24, 2025. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators allege several lawmakers — reportedly including members of Zelenskyy’s own faction — approached Tymoshenko, leading to discussions about regular monthly payments in exchange for coordinated voting.
Despite reportedly being served with a notice of suspicion, Tymoshenko also addressed parliament this week, calling the case “political persecution against me.”
“The so-called ‘urgent investigative actions’ that lasted all night ended at the Batkivshchyna party office. These ‘urgent investigative actions’ have nothing to do with law and order,” Tymoshenko also wrote on Facebook.
According to Mendel, the goal was not to attack Zelenskyy personally but to fracture the ruling mono-majority in parliament.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 28, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“Ukraine’s system is a parliamentary-presidential republic, meaning the legislature plays a central role in governance. When the president controls a mono-majority, legislation can pass quickly,” Mendel said.
“Breaking that majority would significantly weaken Zelenskyy’s legislative authority.”
Tymoshenko, a central figure in the 2004 Orange Revolution and Ukraine’s first female prime minister, has faced legal trouble before.
In 2011, she was jailed over a gas deal with Russia in a case widely viewed as politically motivated before being released in 2014. She is expected to appear before Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court.
“Corruption is one of the key reasons we are losing this war. It severely damages Ukraine’s image on the international stage,” Mendel warned.
“By 2024, corruption had reached such a scale that Ukrainians chose an extremely dangerous and painful path — exposing it publicly in order to fight it,” Mendel added.
“Now, cases like this bring the issue back into the spotlight. Corruption will destroy Ukraine.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for comment.
