FILE PHOTO: Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the American military’s Ramstein Air Base, near Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, September 8, 2022. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen
Politico.eu: Defense minister Reznikov under fire as corruption probes rock Ukraine
The deputy infrastructure minister has been fired, and the defense ministry is facing the heat over a military catering contract.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov — one of the most prominent faces of the war against Russia — is now under fire on the home front as investigations into government corruption rocked the country over the weekend.
Kyiv’s officials have been at pains over the course of the war to attempt to show that the nation is pulling together and cleaning up its act on corruption in a bid to chart a course toward the EU, so the revelations of two probes into top-level graft have come as a severe blow.
Both of the inquiries are related to war profiteering, and triggered an immediate pledge of action from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday night. The case involving the defense ministry involved purchases of military rations at inflated prices — a topic that has snowballed into top news in Kyiv. Almost simultaneously, the deputy infrastructure minister was fired in a case linked to an overpriced public purchase of electrical generators. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said it was investigating both matters.
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WNU Editor: Ukraine was, and still is, one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. I would say it is even worse right now with the war and the uncontrollable flood of Western monies and aid pouring into the country. I have mentioned it before in previous posts that I am involved in sending needed medical pharmaceuticals to needed recipients in Ukraine. Half of our shipments are still disappearing, and I sense that it is getting worse.
This is contrary to what I understand is happening in Russia. War measures on how monies and resources are used for the war are very strict. There are heavy penalties for corruption. Needles to say that I still believe is corruption is rampant and widespread, but the risks have increased exponentially.