Ukrainian Domestic — 2026-07-01

Expelled Zelensky Party Lawmaker Tyshchenko Charged with Over One Million Dollar Bribery

BLUFNABU's prosecution of an already-expelled lawmaker burnishes Kyiv's anti-corruption credentials for EU reviewers without testing the bureau's willingness to target politically shielded incumbents.

Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau charged lawmaker Mykola Tyshchenko on June 29 with soliciting a bribe of more than $1 million, according to NABU 1. NABU said Tyshchenko solicited the bribe in 2023 in exchange for using his parliamentary powers to promote the interests of call centers, though he did not receive the funds 1. NABU also charged him with money laundering and false asset declaration, alleging he laundered 12.6 million hryvnia ($280,000) through a sham gift agreement with his ex-wife and reported it in his declaration despite her lacking legal income to finance the gift and no money actually changing hands 1. Tyshchenko was expelled from Zelensky's Servant of the People faction in 2023 and was separately charged by the State Investigation Bureau in 2024 with illegally detaining a former soldier 1.

Analysis
NABU's move against a lawmaker already exiled from Servant of the People, on a solicitation charge plus a laundering count built on a sham gift agreement, signals casework continuing independent of factional protection, a data point Kyiv can cite to EU accession monitors even as Warsaw's separate Bandera-commemoration demand shows anti-corruption progress alone will not clear Poland's conditions. Interfax and Kyiv Independent converge only narrowly on NABU's own announcement, without independent verification of the underlying allegations. Tyshchenko's history of unrelated scandals makes him a low-cost target, and the prosecution may reflect selective enforcement against an already-marginalized, unpopular figure rather than a test of NABU's independence against a politically connected incumbent.

3 sources

Scandalous lawmaker expelled from Zelensky's party faces bribery charges - Kyiv Independent
SAPO, NABU expose MP requesting $1 mln to protect call centers, launder funds - Interfax-Ukraine
NABU and SAPO charge MP Tyshchenko in $1 million bribery case - New Voice of Ukraine