Kyiv Post classic: Stealing from a nation at war in 2017
The newspaper was not afraid then to report on corruption charges involving two top defense ministry officials. The cases appear to have been dropped along the way -- as usual.
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner summarized the Oct. 13, 2017, edition, which can be read here in PDF format:
Even in a nation inured to grand-scale corruption, the allegations that two top defense officials conspired to steal $5.5 million from the budget of a nation at war are shocking.
They revive calls for more transparency in defense spending, which now accounts for $5 billion or 5 percent of the nation's GDP, and for the swift creation of a credible, independent anti-corruption court.
Ukraine has been down this road before, known as "catch-and-release." A big fish is hauled into court and charged, but the cases invariably get stalled or dismissed by one of the nation's discredited judges, and the big fish gets away.
French Ambassador Isabelle Dumont, interviewed in this edition, adds a powerful voice to the call for an anti-corruption court.
We have a genuinely hopeful story from the war front about cities that are rebuilding courtesy of national and international aid.
We also have the regular features you've come to expect: Reform Watch, Reformer & Anti-Reformer of the Week, Ukraine's Friend & Foe of the Week, the complete Entertainment Guide, and more.
Zelenskiy can only do so much at the same time. Gee, there's a small War he has to deal with first. I know corruption has been rampant in Ukraine in the past from what I've read. And perhaps Zelenskiy will fire these two indicted individuals. But he does have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦
Yeap. The minister was Stepan Poltorak, the guy who failed mobilization in 2014-2015 when we were seriously lacking soldiers in the Donbas.