Ukraine’s defence ministry corruption reshuffle marks a painful moment in an agonising war

Ukraine faces a tough challenge with its top official’s shuffle and military food purchases reportedly going at highly inflated prices while the nation is at war.

A nyone who wishes Ukraine well (and watched its president pay a quick, strategic visit to Britain) will be dismayed by the news that its defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, is to be replaced following a corruption scandal.

There is no suggestion that Mr Reznikov himself is directly implicated in any wrongdoing, but the mere fact that Ukraine is set to reassign the highest-ranking official in its government is concerning. It sounds bizarre for a country forced to engage in an unprovoked war for its life, to decide it will replace its defence minister 12 months into that bloody conflict.

Unless… unless it’s not bizarre and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration is merely trying to keep things going and to keep the faith… with its western allies.

With money and resources pouring into Ukraine, probity has become a greatly prized word in the Ukrainian context. Particularly for Ukraine’s allies, which are spending huge sums to help it bravely fight savage aggression from a neighbour.

Over the years, much before Mr Zelensky was elected to the highest office of state, reports of Ukrainian corruption were as routine and familiar as sparrows in the garden. Transparency International has ranked Ukraine at 122 out of 180 countries — not much better than Russia.

When he was elected by a landslide in 2019, Mr Zelensky boldly vowed to change the way Ukraine was governed. That he has struggled to achieve wholesale reform is hardly surprising — systems are stubbornly resistant to change and self-perpetuating. And then came the unprovoked Russian invasion of his country. Mr Zelensky could hardly be expected to serve as commander-in-chief of a country at war and wage a different, equally brutal war at home.

That said, it looks bad for Ukraine when there are reports that its military allegedly secured food at highly inflated prices. The defence ministry has denied this, describing the reports as false. Even so, such accounts do not add to confidence in promised Ukraine’s clean-slate policy.

It could hardly come at a worse time for Ukraine. In 24 hours, European Union (EU) leaders gather for a summit, with Ukraine painfully high on the agenda. Unlike the last EU leaders’ summit in December, the mood will not be nervous exhilaration. This time, it will be just nervous.

Nearly a year into Russia’s brutal war, an imminent Russian offensive is on everyone’s minds. Promised deliveries to Ukraine of German (and American) tanks are yet to arrive.

And then, to add to the nervousness, there is news that Ukraine’s defence minister will be given a new portfolio, while there is sotto voce talk of corruption in the outfit he leads.

It’s not much cause for cheer. War hardly ever is, but this moment in this war is particularly agonising.

— AUTHOR —

▫ Rashmee Roshan Lall, Journalist by trade & inclination. World affairs columnist.

Sources

▪ Text: This piece was originally published in Medium and re-published in PMP Magazine on 8 February 2023, with the author’s consent. | The author writes in a personal capacity.
▪ Cover: Adobe Stock/almostfuture.