Overview
- Volodymyr Kudrytskyi was detained on Oct. 28 and arraigned in Kyiv, then released on Oct. 30 after a court set bail at about $325,000 with conditions including an electronic monitor and surrender of passports.
- Investigators accuse Kudrytskyi and businessman Igor Grinkevich, who is in custody, of inflating work and costs in 2018 tenders for power system reconstruction to embezzle state funds.
- Kudrytskyi and his lawyers deny wrongdoing, saying he did not hide from investigators and noting the subcontractor never began work and an advance was clawed back, with no evidence he personally benefited.
- Opposition lawmakers and activists describe the case as politically driven and part of a wider pattern of pressure on critics, while a senior government adviser urges waiting for full court hearings.
- The case follows Kudrytskyi’s contested 2024 ouster that triggered resignations over governance concerns and earlier alarm in Brussels, as Western institutions remain publicly quiet and Ukraine braces for a punishing energy season under Russian attacks.