NABU: Lawmaker's assistant suspected of taking bribes for illegal border crossings
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) reported on July 5 that a lawmaker's assistant had received a bribe to grant someone permission to cross the border.
Investigators are searching the assistant's residence, as well as at the lawmaker's in Ternopil Oblast.
The possible involvement of the parliament member in the commission of the crime is being investigated, NABU wrote.
According to NABU, a number of individuals had received bribes to file information through regional military administrations to allow men to cross the border.
Under martial law, Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country, in the event that they are called up for military service.
Ukrainska Pravda wrote that its sources in law enforcement say that the lawmaker in question is allegedly Liudmila Marchenko, who is a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party.
Yulia Paliychuk, the spokesperson of the political party, told Ukrainska Pravda that they had heard about Marchenko from the media and that they were waiting for official reports from law enforcement agencies.
Paliychuk told Ukrainska Pravda that Servant of the People "will study all the facts and circumstances of this event and, in the event of guilt, will make a decision on expulsion from the faction."
