Yulia Tymoshenko
At the hearing, the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) requested bail in the amount of 50 million hryvnias, citing possible risks if the measure were less strict. He pointed to Tymoshenko's financial capabilities and the likelihood of her leaving the country under the pretext of participating in parliamentary events.
Tymoshenko's defense, on the contrary, asked the court to refrain from imposing an electronic bracelet and to allow her to travel abroad in February to participate in sessions of the Verkhovna Rada, referring to the inconveniences associated with wearing the device in winter.
The court also ruled that Tymoshenko cannot leave Kyiv and the Kyiv region and ordered her to surrender her foreign passport. Moreover, the former prime minister is prohibited from communicating with 66 members of the Verkhovna Rada.
According to the case materials, on January 14, NABU officers conducted searches at the office of the "Fatherland" party in Kyiv, where Tymoshenko was present. During the searches, it was established that she was negotiating with several deputies about joining her faction or informally joining a deputy group for monetary compensation.
In Tymoshenko's office during the searches, it is alleged that 40 thousand dollars were found.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau published a recording of her conversation with one of the deputies, presenting it as evidence of an attempt to bribe votes. According to the investigation, Tymoshenko offered 10 thousand dollars a month for voting at two plenary sessions.
Sources from the publication "Strana.ua" reported that one of the deputies from President Volodymyr Zelensky's party "Servant of the People" could have acted as a provocateur in the investigation. The names of parliamentarians Igor Kopytin and Sergey Kuzminykh were mentioned in the publications.
It also became known that among the witnesses in the case is a deputy with the surname Mazur, however, there is no person with that surname in the "Fatherland" party or among the deputies of the IX convocation of the Verkhovna Rada.
Tymoshenko's defense stated at the hearing that the surname "Mazur" might be a cover for Igor Kopytin, and Tymoshenko herself confirmed the fact of meeting with the deputy, adding that the content of their conversation differs from the materials presented by NABU.
Yulia Tymoshenko denied all accusations, calling the situation a "political order" and a "PR action by NABU." She claimed that the money found during the search was family savings, and the published recordings of conversations were fabricated.
According to her, there is no evidence in the case materials of money being transferred to the deputy, and the file titled "Cash" concerned ordinary household expenses and was kept in hryvnias, not dollars. She also noted that the seized funds allegedly represent compensation for persecution during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych.
The former prime minister expressed confidence that she would not leave the country, refuting the version of a possible escape. During the hearing, she also harshly criticized the Ukrainian authorities, describing them as a "fascist regime."
