Corruption stories in particular have dominated the headlines of Ukrainian news websites for the past few days – quite remarkable given the tense situation on the eastern frontline.

In a very short time, a large number of suspected cases have become public.

Gerhard Gnauck

Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.

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Sometimes it's about comparatively "small fish", like this week two local politicians in the small town of Reni near Odessa.

They are said to have received $100,000 from the prospective tenant for leasing a 6-acre property.

The anti-corruption bodies created in recent years have struck, the media reported.

But it also hit "bigger fish" this week: Kyrylo Tymoshenko, one of ten deputy heads of the presidential office under Volodymyr Zelenskyj, and several deputy ministers resigned.

Five of the governors of the country's 27 administrative units (including Crimea and Donbass) were also dismissed.

Most of the cases concerned suspicions of corruption or abuse of office.

The allegation of abuse of office also hit the former head of the state-owned Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolev, and could have brought him several years in prison.

In 2017, he received a premium from the group that was the equivalent of almost eight million euros.

The authorities requested that Kobolev be arrested.

This week, however, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court rejected that request.

Defenders of the manager argue that the bonus was the reward for the company's spectacular victory before the Stockholm Arbitration Court over the Russian gas company Gazprom.

The dispute was about the "take or pay" clause, according to which Ukraine should pay for gas quantities agreed years in advance even if it does not currently need them.

Despite the war in a Mercedes to Spain

The victory in Stockholm saved Ukraine from billions of euros in back payments.

The price of gas, fixed during a wintry "gas war" between Russia and Ukraine, was one of the levers that Russian President Putin tried to use to bring the neighboring country to its knees.

The deputy prosecutor general, Oleksiy Symonenko, is being accused of a trivial offense.

Symonenko spent a short winter vacation in Marbella, Spain.

The portal nv.ua came across a corresponding photo on his wife's Instagram account.

Shortly before, President Selenskyj had called on politicians and civil servants to forego vacations abroad during the war.

Anyone who does it anyway, “there is no place for them in politics.

Please take my words as seriously as possible.” The portal also pointed out that the prosecutor's journey took place on board a Mercedes driven by an employee of a controversial businessman and politician.

In the meantime, not only has Symonenko resigned, the businessman has also resigned from the regional parliament.

Corruption has its roots in the Soviet and post-Soviet era.

The wild 1990s were a shock for many, the impoverishment of broad sections of the population and millions of labor migration abroad.

As in Russia, the most important trading partner at the time, a few were able to quickly enrich themselves, “privatize” companies to their benefit, and sometimes even set up television stations.