Ukraine’s Olha Stefanishyna investigated over anti-corruption allegations
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s former ambassador to the US, is under investigation for failing to declare two apartments and cash used for renovations and other expenses.
Ukraine’s investigation into Olha Stefanishyna underscores systemic efforts to combat corruption, impacting trust in leadership amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and economic reform.
“I will do what I must: calmly and lawfully defend my position. I have no doubt about the outcome,” stated Olha Stefanishyna amid her ongoing investigation.
Ukraine’s former ambassador to US faces anti-corruption probe
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Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s former ambassador to the US, is under investigation in an anti-corruption case, with the High Anti-Corruption Court holding a hearing on the matter in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne reports that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) served Stefanishyna with a new notice of suspicion on 5 August.
According to the SAPO prosecutor, Stefanishyna – a former ambassador to the US and ex–deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration – is accused of failing to declare two apartments and cash used to pay for renovations, airline tickets and the rent on another apartment.
She is also alleged to have failed to disclose her use of a car registered to one of her subordinates.
The prosecutor says her spending exceeded her income and savings.
Stefanishyna responded in a statement on Facebook, saying she viewed the investigation “calmly and without unnecessary emotion”.
“Any procedural actions are part of the lawful work of the law enforcement system and do not amount to a finding of guilt,” she wrote.
She added that she had “addressed many of the issues now being raised in the media, including those concerning real estate” and had provided journalists with “all the necessary documents” regarding the apartment that consequent questions.
“The burden of proving allegations lies with those who make them,” she wrote. “As for me, I will do what I must: calmly and lawfully defend my position. I have no doubt about the outcome.”
Zelenskyy dismissed Stefanishyna from her post on 3 August in a presidential decree that gave no reason for the move.
Speculation that she could leave one of Kyiv’s most important ambassadorial roles because of a corruption probe has circulated since a surprise wartime government reshuffle began in mid-July.
Stefanishyna said she decided to step down from her job in Washington for “personal reasons”.
Her planned departure was widely seen by analysts as a trigger for the reshuffle, with now ex-prime minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, who was later dismissed, expected to succeed Stefanishyna as Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington.