Ukraine has detained a deputy energy minister accused of taking a bribe worth half a million dollars as it continues a bid to tame corruption among state officials.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Monday that it had arrested the official over a scheme to smuggle mining equipment out of the war-torn east of the country. Three alleged accomplices have also been detained.

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Ukraine has said that, amid its war against Russia’s 2022 invasion, it is trying to step up its fight against official corruption to prove the country’s credentials for joining the European Union.

The SBU announcement did not disclose the identity of the official or his accomplices, posting photos of its officers arresting the suspects with their faces blurred. However, opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak named the deputy minister as Oleksandr Kheilo.

The SBU said that the minister, responsible for securing vital energy equipment amid the conflict, allegedly demanded mining industry officials pay him to transfer equipment from mines in the front-line eastern Donetsk region to a coal basin in western Ukraine.

“The equipment in question is unique and scarce, belonging to one of the state-owned coal companies located in the most active area of the eastern frontline – Pokrovsk,” the SBU said in a statement.

“In the spring of 2024, industry representatives approached the deputy energy minister to obtain permission to evacuate the equipment from the war zone and use it at mines in a western region,” it added.

“However, the official, whose duties included the preservation of mining equipment, demanded money for its removal,” it said.

The suspects were detained as they were about to receive $100,000 of the $500,000 bribe demanded. Investigators had previously documented receipt of another $200,000.

Kheilo has now been dismissed, according to a government Telegram channel.

Ukraine has been battling corruption for years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rose to power on a platform of ending corruption. He has fired a number of officials, including the defence minister last year over corruption scandals in the army.

In April, the agriculture minister was detained and sacked over allegations of his involvement in an illegal acquisition of state-owned land worth $7m.