Ukraine raids tycoon's home, tax office in wartime clampdown

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian business tycoon Ihor Kolomoiskiy speaks with journalists on the sidelines of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) annual meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine September 13, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian authorities raided an influential billionaire's home on Wednesday in what an ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy touted as a sweeping wartime clampdown on corruption that would change the country.

Separate raids were carried out at the Tax Office and on the home of former interior minister Arsen Avakov, and a new Customs Service chief was named, two days before Ukraine hosts a summit with the European Union at which Kyiv wants to show it is cracking down after years of chronic corruption.