New York
A Russian diplomat was arrested in an FBI raid last week and charged with taking hundreds of thousands of dollars for covering up corruption at the United Nations. Vladimir Kuznetsov, 48, allegedly had accepted kickbacks from a Russian U.N. procurement officer, who has been accused of soliciting a bribe from a company seeking a contract in the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. That official, Alexander Yakovlev, has already pleaded guilty to taking nearly $1 million from contractors in other U.N. programs. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan agreed to waive diplomatic immunity for Kuznetsov, who chairs an influential budget committee in the U.N. General Assembly. He was formally charged in Manhattan court, and said in a thick accent, “Plead not guilty.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Best poetry books of 2025The Week Recommends Magnificent collections from Luke Kennard, Leo Boix and Isabelle Baafi
-
‘Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right’ by Laura K. Field and ‘The Dream Factory: London’s First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare’ by Daniel SwiftFeature An insider’s POV on the GOP and the untold story of Shakespeare’s first theater
-
How to shop smarter with a grocery budgetThe Explainer No more pushing your cart down the aisles on autopilot
