Afrasianet - Ukrainian authorities are arresting the commander of the French-trained 155th Brigade and nine others in a case of kidnapping and killing two brothers in a gang style, amid scandals hitting the military unit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday the arrest of the suspect, who was shaken by a resounding scandal as part of a criminal investigation into a murder.
In the details of the crime, Ukrainian police announced that the unit's commander, Stanislav Luchanov, was directly involved in the kidnapping and murder of two brothers who disappeared from the Kyiv region last June, after he insulted a woman during a verbal altercation over noise, and her husband used other soldiers to "take revenge" on them.
The revelation coincided with Zelenskyy's arrival in the French capital Paris for a meeting with European backers to discuss ways to pressure Russia and provide Kyiv with air defense systems.
Assassination by Gunfire and Arrest of 10 Suspects
An official statement issued by the Ukrainian police said that the bodies of the two brothers were found last week with bullets pierced, while Zelensky confirmed in a statement on social media that 10 people had been arrested in the case, "including soldiers and a former commander of the 155th Brigade."
The 155th Brigade is known as the "Anne of Kiev" Brigade, after a medieval Kievan princess who married the French royal family, and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the creation of this unit on the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings in 2024, and hundreds of its soldiers received partial training in France to be a leading fighting force and a symbol of French support.
Successive scandals and gang behavior in the back lines
Despite the Western bet on it, since its formation, the unit has suffered from mass desertions, low morale, and equipment shortages, and has been shaken by several scandals, including hundreds of reports of desertions, and the announcement by the Ukrainian military command that Luchanov had been suspended from work after leaving the unit without permission.
In turn, Ukraine's anti-corruption commission revealed the involvement of the former director of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, in a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme.
According to local media, the official is Andrei Yermak, the former director of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office.
In details, the National Anti-Corruption Office said it had dismantled an "organized group" that laundered "460 million hryvnias ($10.5 million) through a luxury real estate project near Kyiv."
"A member of this group, a former head of the office of the president of Ukraine, has been informed of the charges against him," he added, noting that "investigations are being carried out expeditiously."
Until late last year, Yermak was one of Zelensky's closest aides and right-hand man for most of the war, but resigned in November 2025 after his home was raided over an investigation into massive energy corruption.
Yermak served as Zelensky's top aide from 2020 to 2025, and his fall has shocked Ukraine and its political class, with Zelensky appointing former intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov in his place.
Ukraine has been hit by several major corruption scandals during the war with Russia, which is now in its fifth year.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sveridenko has ordered the suspension of Justice Minister Germani Galushchenko, who held the energy portfolio for four years, over a major corruption scandal that has rocked the country's energy sector.
"It has been decided to suspend German Galushenko's duties as justice minister," the prime minister said on social media platforms, the day after he was accused by Ukrainian prosecutors of receiving "personal benefits" from Timur Mendych, a key ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is accused of orchestrating a scheme that led to the embezzlement of $100 million in the energy sector.
The charges against Timur Mendych are the latest episode in a wide-ranging corruption scandal that includes suspicions of embezzlement of huge sums of money in the energy sector, while electricity infrastructure has come under intense Russian attacks.
Mendych owns a stake in the media company Quartal 95, which Zelensky founded. "Mendych managed the accumulation, distribution and legalization of funds obtained through criminal methods in Ukraine's energy sector," the anti-corruption prosecutor's office (Sabo) said.
During a hearing before the start of the trial of another man accused of involvement in the plot, she said the suspect had used his "friendly relations with the president of Ukraine" in his criminal activity.
This came after the National Anti-Corruption Authority (NABO) announced that it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the energy sector that included $100 million that was laundered, and confirmed the arrest of 5 people and the indictment of 7 others.
NABO carried out large-scale raids after a 15-month investigation into the energy sector, which has been under regular attack since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
The head of the anti-corruption commission's investigative team, Oleksandr Abakumov, told Ukrainian state television that Timur Mendych had left the country just before the raids began.
Accusations of embezzlement in the energy sector as Russian attacks continue and widespread power cuts have fueled public anger.
President Volodymyr Zelensky faced harsh criticism from Ukrainians and Brussels over the summer when he tried to bring the two independent anti-corruption bodies, NAPO and SABO, under government control.
