The President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, has taken a new step forward in the fight against corruption, one of the scourges that systematically corrode the country. On this occasion, he has targeted his Armed Forces, precisely at a critical moment in the counteroffensive deployed in the east of the country. Zelenski has ordered this Friday the immediate dismissal of all the regional managers of the military recruitment centers. “People who know exactly what war is and that cynicism and bribery during war are treason should be in charge,” the Ukrainian leader said in a message through his Telegram profile. This measure comes a month after the prosecution of Yevhen Borisov, head of recruitment at the Odesa office, in preventive detention and who is accused, among other things, of embezzling around three million euros.
“On the other hand”, Zelensky continued in his statement, “the soldiers who have passed through the front, who cannot be in the trenches because they have lost their health, or have lost their limbs, but have preserved their dignity and have no cynicism They are the ones who can be entrusted with this work.” The Ukrainian president, who has estimated the criminal proceedings opened against these regional commanders at 112, has delegated to the chief of the General Staff, General Valeri Zaluzhni, the replacement in charge of the military recruitment centers. Investigations leading up to this mass dismissal have been coordinated by the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU, intelligence body), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and state anti-corruption offices.
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The adoption of this measure is preceded by one of the biggest scandals, precisely within the recruitment centers. At the end of June, General Zaluzhni removed the head of the Odessa bureau, Yevhen Borisov, from his post. Against him weighs, among other charges, the illegal appropriation of around three million euros. The Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported that Borisov’s family had purchased a home and vehicles in Marbella, in southern Spain. Based on this information, the investigation of all military recruiting commissioners began. “No one,” the Ukrainian president said then, “will forgive deputies, judges, military commissars or any other officials for opposing the state. Any internal betrayal or personal enrichment will unleash fury at the very least”.
Zelenski thus tries to maintain, in parallel to the war on the eastern front and the defense of the rest of the country, a constant battle against corruption. Ukraine ranks 116 out of 180 on the Transparency International organization’s list on corruption and ending it is one of the pillars of the open process with the European Union to make the country a new full member. Brussels has recently stated that kyiv has already met two of the seven conditions required to meet the requirements for membership. These two chapters would have to do with the reform of justice and the media law.
Meanwhile, Russia maintains its bombardments against the Ukrainian territory. This Friday, Moscow once again forced the activation of anti-aircraft alerts throughout the country after the launch of four Kinzhal (hypersonic) missiles through four fighters (MIG-31), according to information provided by the Ukrainian authorities. One of these shells was shot down over the sky over kyiv, the capital, shortly after 10:00 a.m. The offensive was aimed at the southwest of the country, the airfield of the Kolomia district, in the Ivano-Frankivsk province. A missile fell on a civilian area and killed a minor.
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