KIEV ??“ When a police officer stopped a truck driver from Khoruzhivka, a small village in the Sumy region, and demanded a bribe, for both it was business as usual. But what happened later was a nightmare for the officer and for thousands of his fellow servicemen.

The driver appeared to be hailing from the same village as President Viktor Yushchenko, who had manifested his commitment to eradicate corruption in the country.