Anti-corruption investigators have reportedly accused Yulia Tymoshenko, a prominent Ukrainian opposition politician and former prime minister, of organizing a scheme to bribe lawmakers, allegedly involving people from Volodymyr Zelensky's party, with the aim of weakening him.
Tymoshenko rose to prominence during Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, and was sentenced to prison in 2011 following charges brought against her by then-pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, before being released during the "Maidan" protests.
A spokesman for the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) said on Wednesday that Tymoshenko was charged after the offices of her Fatherland party were raided late Tuesday night, in an operation by SAPO officers and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).
Tymoshenko's party has 25 of the 450 seats in the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, according to the British "Guardian".
Although Tymoshenko has not been formally named, investigators in Ukraine briefed the media on her alleged role, while she issued a statement denying all allegations.
This comes amid a recent series of high-profile corruption investigations, including those within Zelensky's inner circle. The political turmoil in Ukraine has been further fueled by growing expectations that elections will be held if a ceasefire with Russia is reached, an idea that Zelensky himself has been pushing.
According to reports from Ukraine, the allegations against Tymoshenko relate to paying bribes to politicians to vote with her party, including votes to dismiss the head of the state security service and the defense minister, as well as votes in favor of individuals she nominated.
According to an allegedly intercepted conversation between Tymoshenko and an unnamed lawmaker, released by investigators, she planned to transmit voting instructions via the messaging app Signal, suggesting the goal was to “break the majority” in parliament enjoyed by Zelensky.
Tymoshenko posted a statement on Facebook denying any connection to the released audio recording. "I officially declare that the released audio recordings have nothing to do with me. I reject all accusations and will prove them unfounded in court," she said.
A video released by anti-corruption agencies shows cash in US dollars being seized during a raid on Tuesday.
Tymoshenko confirmed the search of her office in a Facebook post and suggested it was politically motivated.
"It seems that the elections are much closer than it seemed and that someone decided to start cleaning up the competition," Tymoshenko said. "They didn't find anything, so they just took my official phones, parliamentary documents and personal savings, all duly declared in my official asset declaration. I categorically reject all these senseless accusations."
Tymoshenko was among the most vocal proponents of a highly controversial law last year, which Zelensky later withdrew amid domestic and international outcry, that would have led to the abolition of SAPO and NABU, the two anti-corruption agencies now investigating her.
According to NABU, Tymoshenko is accused of approaching MPs to establish "a regular mechanism of cooperation that involved advance payments and was designed for the long term," including instructions on how to vote.
This included, among other things, an alleged message-instruction that Tymoshenko sent to a lawmaker to vote for the dismissal of Vasyl Malyuk from the post of head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), as well as Defense Minister Denis Shmyhal and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
The announcement comes two weeks after NABU said it had uncovered a criminal conspiracy involving MPs receiving cash in exchange for votes in parliament.
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