Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency and special prosecutor’s office announced that the president of the country’s Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, was arrested on his own charge with $3 million in bribes, Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported last night.

Media in Kiev are reporting that the offices of other members of the Supreme Court were also raided.

Ukraine’s national anti-corruption agency released a photo of a large amount of cash on a couch. He said he would give details later.

This service and a special prosecutor’s office reported that they found “wide-scale corruption in the Supreme Court”, speaking of a ring that tried to secure various favors, in which “the leadership and its members” are involved. In their statement they did not explain who was bribing the judges or why.

Mr. Knyazev took over as president of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in October 2021.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly promised to crack down on the culture of corruption and bribery, which is considered endemic, especially in the business world and in government services. Mr Zelensky wants to show that Ukraine is ready to start accession negotiations with the EU. He hopes to secure the green light from the European Union for them to start in 2023.