Ukraine investigates ex-senior presidential aide over embezzlement

KYIV, Jan 21 - Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities accused a former senior aide in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office on Wednesday of helping embezzle more than $3 million through a green energy scheme.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said it had identified nine suspects who had claimed government payments for solar power produced in the now-occupied parts of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

They include an ex-deputy head of Zelenskiy's office, NABU said without naming them. Ukrainian authorities are not allowed to disclose the identity of suspects.

Zelenskiy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ukraine's anti-graft police have stepped up a wartime campaign that has ensnared senior officials and fuelled public anger at lingering high-level corruption in Ukraine.

NABU and anti-corruption prosecutors shocked Ukrainians last November by announcing details of an alleged $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector involving a former Zelenskiy associate.

Weeks after that investigation was unveiled, Zelenskiy dismissed his chief of staff and announced an overhaul of his administration.

Zelenskiy has said he will not tolerate corruption. REUTERS