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Top Ukrainian officials in Zelenskyy government submit resignations amid $100 million corruption scandal
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Two senior Ukrainian officials submitted their resignations Wednesday amid the fallout over an alleged $100 million kickback corruption scheme linked to the state-owned nuclear power company Energoatom.
Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on X that Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk submitted their resignations, and the government suspended several senior officials at Energoatom amid the corruption probe.
Svyrydenko added that the cabinet also submitted proposals to apply personal sanctions against Timur Mindich, a former business partner of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and businessman Alexander Tsukerman.
Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk submitted their resignations on Nov. 12, 2025. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images; Andrii Nesterenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said they led a 15-month investigation code-named «Midas» that uncovered a «large-scale corruption scheme to influence strategic state-owned enterprises.»
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It involved a «high level criminal [organization]» that systematically received «illicit benefits from Energoatom’s contractors in the amount of 10% to 15% of the contract value,» NABU said.
«In particular, Energoatom’s contractors were forced to pay kickbacks to avoid having payments for their services/products blocked or losing their supplier status,» the agencies announced.
The offices of NABU, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, on Oct. 1, 2019, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Sean Gallup/Getty)
The anti-corruption agencies stated that the alleged criminal organization ran a Kyiv-based «laundry» office whose premises belonged to the family of former Ukrainian lawmaker and current Russian senator Andrii Derkach.
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The office kept «black accounting» records and laundered approximately $100 million through non-resident companies, according to NABU and SAPO.
Five people were detained and another seven were placed under suspicion, including a former advisor to the Minister of Energy.
The scandal comes amid Russia’s escalating attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that have led to power outages across the country.
A seller waits for customers in a shop during a partial blackout in Lviv on Nov. 28, 2024, following Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP via Getty Images)
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«Internally this scandal will be used to undermine unity and stability within the country. Externally, our enemies will use it as an argument to stop aid to Ukraine,» said Oleksandr Merezhko, a lawmaker with Zelenskyy’s party, according to The Associated Press.
«It looks really bad in the eyes of our European and American partners,» Merezhko said. «While Russians destroy our power grid and people have to endure blackouts, someone at the top was stealing money during the war.»
Zelenskyy said in a post on X that he supports the investigations carried out by Ukraine’s law enforcement and anti-corruption officials.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy participates in a briefing at the Office of the President following a staff meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 7, 2025.
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«Right now it is extremely difficult for everyone in Ukraine – enduring power outages, Russian strikes, and losses. It is absolutely unacceptable that, amid all this, there are also some schemes in the energy sector,» he wrote. «I will sign a decree to impose sanctions on two individuals implicated in the NABU case concerning Energoatom. Right now we all must protect Ukraine. Undermining the state means you will be held accountable. Breaking the law means you will be held accountable.»
ukraine,corruption,world,energy
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Spain permanently pulled its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday over its opposition to the U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, ratcheting up an already tense diplomatic rift between the two countries.
The Spanish government formally terminated the ambassador’s post in its official gazette and said its embassy in Tel Aviv will now be led by a chargé d’affaires indefinitely.
Madrid had recalled its ambassador last September after Israel condemned Spain’s decision to block aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from using Spanish ports or airspace. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the move antisemitic at the time.
When a reporter on Wednesday asked whether Spain, in general, was cooperating with the U.S., President Donald Trump replied, «No, they’re not. I think they’re not cooperating at all.»
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People walk past damaged buildings following a strike on a police station, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
«Spain, I think they’ve been very bad,» the president said. «Very bad. Not good at all. We may cut off trade with Spain.»
«I don’t know what Spain is doing,» Trump continued. «They’ve been very bad to NATO. They get protected, they don’t want to pay their fair share. And they’ve been that way for many years.»
Trump added that the people of Spain «are fantastic,» whereas the leadership is «not so good.»
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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday criticized Spain’s decision to recall its ambassador to Israel permanently as «hard for me to absorb.»
«Spain is a member of NATO, and the United States and Israel are in joint operations against the Iranian regime who openly calls for the destruction of the Jewish State, attacks against the West, and seeks to purify Islam in its own image,» Graham wrote on X.
Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel, the latest flare-up in the rocky diplomatic relationship between the two countries in recent years. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
«The religious Nazi regime in Iran is the problem, not the Jewish State,» the senator continued. «I hope Spain’s actions will not encourage the tyrannical, fanatical regime in Iran — that abuses its own people — to hang on.»
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Relations between Spain and Israel have deteriorated sharply since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.
Israel also downgraded its diplomatic presence in Spain last May after Spain recognized a Palestinian state, placing its own embassy in Madrid under a chargé d’affaires.
world politics,spain,israel,iran,world
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FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is introducing a new bill to strip FDA approval from the popular abortion pill mifepristone. The new bill builds upon proposed legislation Hawley introduced last year that would ban mifepristone and allow women to sue manufacturers profiting off of what the lawmaker deems an «inherently dangerous» drug.
The Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act was introduced in the Senate Tuesday and would prohibit the use of mifepristone for ending pregnancies.
«The science is clear: The chemical abortion drug is inherently dangerous to women and prone to abuse. Yet major companies like Danco Laboratories are making billions off it,» Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. «That’s why I am introducing new legislation to ban the use of mifepristone for abortion and empower women to sue its manufacturers. Congress must act now to protect the health and safety of women.»
If passed, the legislation would withdraw FDA approval for the drug and classify its distribution for abortion as a violation of federal law. In 2023, mifepristone was used in 63% of all abortions in the U.S., according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.
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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced new legislation Tuesday that would ban the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide, calling it an «inherently dangerous» drug and seeking to revoke its FDA approval. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization formerly affiliated with Planned Parenthood, also estimates there were 1,038,100 clinician-provided abortions in 2024. However, that figure accounts only for states without abortion bans and does not include abortions performed outside the formal healthcare system or in states where abortion laws differ.
Hawley raised concerns about the abortion pill last May when he introduced a separate bill that would direct the FDA to create safeguards on mifepristone, allowing women who suffered complications the right to sue telehealth providers and pharmacies for damages.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., cited research from the Ethics and Public Policy Center claiming higher rates of complications from mifepristone than listed on the FDA-approved label. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
Research by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) in Washington, D.C., showed the rate of side effects when using mifepristone is 22 times higher than indications from the FDA-approved drug label.
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The study revealed more than 1 in 10 women have reported experiencing «infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event.»
EPPC assessed 865,727 insurance claims between 2017 and 2023 for women who used the medication to terminate early pregnancy. The pill can be taken up to «70 days since the first day of their last menstrual period,» according to the FDA.
During the Biden administration, the FDA revised rules allowing mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth, meaning patients would not have to physically go to the doctor to receive the abortion drug.
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In 2024, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected an Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine challenge that was brought to reverse the FDA’s approval and expansion for access to the drug. The ruling allowed mifepristone to remain available through telehealth and mail.
Hawley penned a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary urging him to review the data and act against the abortion drug mifepristone. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The Supreme Court’s rejection was based on the group’s inability to bring a lawsuit, saying Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lacked the legal standing to challenge FDA approval. The merits of the abortion drug were never discussed or questioned in the ruling.
Last May, Hawley sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, whom Hawley questioned during Makary’s Senate confirmation hearing last year.
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«[D]uring your confirmation hearing, you pledged to me that you would ‘review the totality of the data and ongoing data’ to inform action on the drug,» Hawley’s letter to the FDA chief states. «I urge you to follow this new data and take all appropriate action to restore critical safeguards on the use of mifepristone.
«The health and safety of American women depend on it.»
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
abortion,health,womens health,senate,drugs,congress,legislation
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