A 15-month investigation by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau led to the resignations of two high-profile ministers on Wednesday: the energy minister and the justice minister. The investigation’s full scope is yet undisclosed and is likely more complex than it appears, but the implications for Ukraine could be grave.

• The bureau alleges “high-level” corruption among Ukraine’s political elites that includes a $100 million scheme of embezzlement and kickbacks from contractors working with the state-owned nuclear power company Energoatom.

The Spectator is calling this “The Scandal That Could Bring Down Volodymyr Zelenskyy.” Ukraine’s president rose to power on promises to root out graft, and the probe also implicates a business associate Zelenskyy had during his entertainment days.

Some observers view the fact that this corruption is being exposed and addressed as evidence that Ukraine is a functioning democracy. You don’t see corrupt officials from Russia or Venezuela held to account, for example.

There is even some speculation the officials involved were intentionally weakening Ukraine. Olena Tregub, part of another independent anti-corruption organization in Ukraine, said in an X post that Russian agents were “employed inside Energoatom and participated in the corruption scheme”:

The consequences of this corruption include increased risks of blackouts and degraded defense capabilities, which would directly benefit Russia. We increasingly observe that corruption functions as a Russian tool of statecraft. … Therefore, the Security Service of Ukraine must investigate this case not only as corruption but as a potential act of Russian penetration designed to degrade Ukraine’s resilience and defense. All signs suggest that this may be precisely what happened.

Still, the fallout from this scandal could strain Ukraine’s relationship with the European Union and disrupt the flow of aid from the West. Complexities and obstacles seem endemic to the intractable Ukraine war.