Tusk: Kyiv may lose Western support due to corruption
16 November 2025 05:13
Ukraine will be defeated in the war against Russia, which attacked it, if it fails to overcome corruption, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is sure. Speaking about the corruption scandal in Ukraine, he said that Kyiv risks losing the support of its foreign partners, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports citing DW.
If corruption scandals continue to emerge in Ukraine, “it will be increasingly difficult to convince partners to cooperate” in supporting the country, Tusk emphasized. According to him, he had previously warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the “catastrophic consequences” of abolishing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and welcomed the decision not to close the agency.
Tusk: Ukraine will lose the war if it tolerates corruption
“However, the truth has already come out. So I warn everyone who has a say in this matter: beware of corruption, beware of this Russian model, because you will lose the war if you tolerate it,” Tusk warned.
According to him, he warned Zelenskyy that corruption in Ukraine is “one of the key narratives of Russia and pro-Russian parties in Europe.” “Some even thought it was more corrupt than Russia. I told him to be careful with even the slightest manifestations of corruption,” the Polish prime minister said.
Corruption scandal in Ukraine
On November 10, the NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) announced the disclosure of a large-scale corruption scheme around the Energoatom energy company. Ministers of the current government of Ukraine, Timur Mindich, a longtime ally of the president, and financier Alexander Zuckerman were at the center of the scandal. On the same day, law enforcement officers conducted searches at Mindich’s home, Energoatom, and the office of Ukrainian Justice Minister Herman Galushchenko. Mindic himself had left Ukraine shortly before.
on November 12, Zelenskiy demanded the dismissal of Justice Minister Herman Galushchenko, who had been suspended from his duties two days earlier, and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk. Both ministers tendered their resignations almost immediately after Zelenskyy’s announcement. on November 13, Zelenskyy signed a decree imposing sanctions on Mindich and Zuckerman.
