In the most recent effort to combat corruption, Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered the removal of all the directors of Ukraine’s regional military recruitment centers after officials were suspected of accepting bribes from people looking to avoid the front lines.
The president of Ukraine called it “treason” to take money from those who sought to dodge conscription at a time when the army of the nation desperately needs new soldiers.
“This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason,” he said in a video statement. “Instead, soldiers who have experienced the front or who cannot be in the trenches because they have lost their health, lost their limbs, but have preserved their dignity and do not have cynicism, are the ones who can be entrusted with this system of recruitment.”
Zelenskiy, who secured victory in the 2019 elections with a commitment to eradicate the deeply ingrained corruption within the nation, has recently taken personal and very public measures to confront these behaviors.
In January, he removed a minister named Vasyl Lozynsky from his position due to allegations of embezzlement. Additionally, certain individuals within his inner circle chose to exit the government.
Just last week, he strongly condemned the “appalling actions” of certain individuals involved in military recruitment. This followed the discovery of an official in the southern region of Odesa who had inexplicably amassed $5 million in savings and purchased property in Spain.
Presently, there are a total of 112 ongoing criminal cases targeting officials within military enlistment offices. Zelenskiy pointed out that there is evidence suggesting that “some received cash payments, while others received cryptocurrency.”
“The cynicism is the same everywhere,” he said. “Illicit enrichment, legalisation of illegally obtained funds, unlawful benefit, illegal transfer of persons liable for military service across the border.”
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has been ordered by Zelenskiy to hire new heads of the territorial recruitment centres, with applicants facing checks from the security service.
“Every ‘military commissar’ who is subject to criminal proceedings will be held accountable,” Zelenskiy said. “It is quite fair. Full responsibility. The dismissed ‘military commissars’ and other officials who have shoulder straps and in respect of whom no evidence of crimes or violations has been found, if they want to keep their shoulder straps and prove their worthiness should go to the front.”
Zelenskiy did not address another reported case of alleged corruption highlighted by the Ukrainian media, this time involving the Ministry of Defence.
According to documentation reviewed by the investigative news website ZN.ua, the Ministry of Defence purportedly made excessive payments for summer camouflage gear from Turkey, which were then presented as winter coats for the soldiers.
Based on documents reportedly obtained by ZN.ua, a batch of 4,900 jackets that should have logically amounted to $142,000 were astonishingly procured for $421,000.
The report alleges that the surplus money was retained by the Turkish company that provided the goods, and interestingly, the company is owned by a Ukrainian hailing from the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.
As of now, the Ministry of Defence has not issued any response to these allegations.
Back in June, Ukrainian security services initiated an investigation into Vyacheslav Shapovalov, a former deputy minister of defence, and Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, a previous head of the state procurement department within the defence ministry. This investigation revolved around the procurement of substandard winter attire from foreign sources. It remains unclear whether these two cases are interlinked. Both Shapovalov and Khmelnytskyi have adamantly denied any misconduct.
These corruption scandals have surfaced at a time when Ukrainian armed forces are facing mounting pressure due to a Russian offensive in the eastern Kharkiv region, located in the northeast of the country.
The Russian defence ministry reported on Telegram that, in addition to other clashes, 20 Ukrainian soldiers were tragically lost in attacks within the Kherson oblast in the southern region.
Tragedy also struck on a civilian level, with an eight-year-old losing their life as a result of a Russian missile striking a residence in western Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk region, approximately 60 miles from the Polish border. Ukrainian officials further stated that a woman and a 44-year-old man fell victim to a drone strike in the city of Beryslav within the Kherson oblast.
In the city of Kherson, a high-rise building was hit by artillery fire earlier that Friday, resulting in the death of a 53-year-old man, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin on Telegram.
Kyiv, the capital city, came under attack with a barrage of four massive explosions on that same Friday. The reverberations of these explosions were felt across the city as Kyiv’s air defense systems successfully intercepted Russian ballistic missiles.
The mayor of the city, Vitali Klitschko, shared via Telegram: “In addition to the remnants of the rocket that impacted a children’s hospital within the city’s boundaries, two additional crash sites were located in Kyiv’s Obolon district. The roof of a private residence on Bogatyrska Street incurred damage.
Furthermore, in the Obolon area, wreckage was discovered within an open space belonging to one of the summer cooperatives. Thankfully, there have been no reported casualties.”
A collaborative open-source initiative involving the BBC Russian service and the Mediazona website has independently verified the deaths of over 30,000 Russian service personnel connected to the conflict in Ukraine.
This project, utilizing publicly accessible information including online obituaries, newspaper reports, and images from gravestones, has systematically documented and categorized the fatalities based on geographic region, military unit, and age. However, Mediazona stipulated on its website that the actual count of casualties is notably higher.