Ukrainian media publish banned corruption probe into top official's family

Ukraine has spent years battling corruption -- long seen as one of the country's major problems -- and has boosted its anti-graft laws and procedures as it seeks EU membership amid the Russian invasion.

But activists have routinely reported pressure from the authorities on their work and President Volodymyr Zelensky was last year forced to U-turn on a bid to strip independent anti-corruption agencies of their powers.

A court had banned the publication of an investigation from Slidstvo.Info and the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) that claimed to have uncovered 143 properties linked to the brother of Oleksiy Sukhachov, director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

"We see this ban as a blatant act of censorship, so together with the other participants in the initiative, we believe it is necessary to publish the findings of the investigation," outlet Suspilne said on Friday as it published the report.

A Kyiv judge said the publication of the material would cause irreparable harm to Sukhachov, according to the ruling published by AntAC.

"This court ruling sets a very dangerous precedent," AntAc head Daria Kaleniuk said.

"We are convinced that AntAC and Slidstvo.Info are now simply being used to test a mechanism for preventing journalists from exposing corruption," she added.