Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
She served as the Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005 and then again from 2007 to 2010.
Just because you are a historic figure does not mean you are above the law.
That seems to be the lesson learned from Ukraine, as the country’s first-ever female prime minister and current leader of the opposition party Batkivshchyna, Yulia Tymoshenko, has been charged with bribery.
The story was first reported by the news outlet Suspilne, quoting sources from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
Alleged vote buying
Yulia Tymoshenko has allegedly been charged with offering bribes to members of parliament.
SAPO alleged that after several lawmakers from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party were charged in December, Tymoshenko began discussing regular payments in exchange for votes.
“It was not about one-time agreements, but about a regular mechanism of cooperation that involved advance payments and was intended for a long-term period,” Suspilne reported.
Lawmakers were allegedly instructed on how to vote or when to abstain.
Voted to dismantle anti-corruption groups
In 2025, the Ukrainian parliament voted for a controversial bill to dismantle Ukraine’s anti-corruption groups, even though she is in opposition to Wolodomyr Zelenskyy’s ruling party.
The controversial bill saw nationwide protests in Ukraine, forcing the Ukrainian lawmakers to backtrack and cancel the bill.
It is the same anti-corruption groups that have now charged her with bribery.
Denies all allegations
According to The Kyiv Independent, Tymoshenko confirmed that authorities raided the offices of Batkivshchyna in a Facebook post, calling the raids unlawful and saying, “They found nothing.”
She rejected the accusations as political, adding that “it seems the elections are much closer than they appeared,” hinting at reports that Ukraine is preparing to hold elections in the near future.
Sources: Suspilne, NABU, SAPO, Kyiv Independent
