A Kyiv court granted former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko bail of about $762,000 as she awaits trial on allegations of paying MPs to sway votes. Tymoshenko, 65, denies the charges, describes the case as politically motivated and says her bank accounts are frozen, giving her five days to post bail. Prosecutors allege a cash-for-votes scheme involving payments of $10,000 per month; Tymoshenko accused NABU of trying to discredit her. The case unfolds amid a broader anti-corruption effort in wartime Ukraine.
Yulia Tymoshenko Granted $762,000 Bail Ahead Of Vote-Buying Trial
Ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said this week her party's office had been raided in the political corruption probe (Sergei GAPON)(Sergei GAPON/AFP/AFP)
A Kyiv court on Friday released former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on bail as she awaits trial over allegations she paid members of parliament to influence their votes.
The 65-year-old veteran politician—who denies the charges and calls the case politically motivated—previously served twice as prime minister after 2005. Following her 2010 presidential election defeat to Viktor Yanukovych, Tymoshenko was later imprisoned on abuse-of-office charges that her supporters and many Western observers described as politically driven.
The anti-corruption court set bail at roughly $762,000, according to an AFP reporter at the hearing. Judges barred Tymoshenko from leaving Kyiv without permission and ordered her to surrender her passport. Local media said she was given five days to post the bail because she told the court her bank accounts had been frozen.
Prosecutors allege Tymoshenko disclosed details of a cash-for-votes scheme to another lawmaker and say payments in the scheme amounted to $10,000 per month. Tymoshenko appeared in court wearing her trademark crown braid and described the case as a "provocation." She accused Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) of acting on a political order to discredit her.
"NABU was carrying out a political order specifically to discredit me," Tymoshenko told the court.
The proceedings come amid an intensified anti-corruption push in wartime Ukraine. Since Russia's full-scale invasion nearly four years ago, political campaigning has largely been suspended under martial law as the country focuses on the war effort. Still, in recent months a series of high-profile corruption scandals has unsettled Kyiv, prompting resignations that have included government ministers and senior presidential aides.
Corruption remains a central challenge for Ukraine and tackling graft is widely seen as essential to the country's bid to join the European Union. The court's decision to grant bail allows Tymoshenko to remain free while the legal process continues, but the case is likely to draw sustained public and international attention.
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