Ukrainian MP accused of bribery flees to Romania

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A Ukrainian lawmaker accused of offering bribes to a senior government official has fled to neighboring Romania, a source familiar with the case told AFP on Tuesday.

Andrii Odarchenko, a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky's ruling party, crossed the border into Romania near the town of Vicovu de Sus on September 19, the source told AFP.

There was no immediate reaction from the Romanian authorities.

Odarchenko was arrested in November 2023. He was accused of offering $10,000 worth of bitcoins to the head of Ukraine's reconstruction agency to secure funding for building repairs at a university where he heads.

Ukrainian media reported that Odarchenko, who was later released, denied the allegations and said he was a victim of political persecution.

This month he failed to appear at a court hearing in Kyiv and prosecutors said he had travelled to Romania to seek asylum there.

In recent months, increasing numbers of Ukrainian men have crossed the border into Romania illegally, many of them hoping to avoid being drafted and help repel the Russian invasion.

Most men between the ages of 18 and 60 have been banned from leaving Ukraine.

Every day, around 50 Ukrainians are spotted near the northern border after crossing the mountains or swimming across the Tisza River that separates the two countries.

According to border police, around 17,000 have made it to Romania since the war began in February 2022.

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