Several senior Ukrainian officials announced their resignations on Tuesday as the defense ministry was rocked by allegations of food procurement fraud, in the country’s biggest corruption scandal since the start of the Russian invasion.
Ukraine has a history of endemic corruption, including among the political elite, but efforts to stamp out corruption have been overshadowed by Moscow’s full-scale war which began in February.
Kyiv’s Western allies, which have provided billions of dollars in financial and military support, have for years pushed for anti-corruption reforms, sometimes as a precondition for aid.
Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, deputy head of the presidential administration Kyrylo Tymoshenko and deputy prosecutor general Oleksiy Symonenko are among the suspended officials.
The Ministry of Defense announced the resignation of Shapovalov, who was responsible for the logistical support of the army, after he was accused of signing food contracts at inflated prices.
Local media reports last week accused the ministry of having signed a deal with prices “two to three times higher” than current rates for basic food items.
In a statement, the ministry insisted that the allegations were “baseless and baseless” but said Shapovalov would “maintain the trust of the public and international partners”.
Tymoshenko, who has worked closely with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since his election in 2019 and oversees regional policy, also announced her resignation on Tuesday.
She posted a photo of herself holding her handwritten resignation letter, thanking the president for “the opportunity to do good deeds every day and every minute”.
Tymoshenko has been embroiled in several scandals during her tenure, including in October last year when she was accused of using a car donated to Ukraine for humanitarian purposes.
The departure of Symonenko, the deputy public prosecutor, came after media reports that he was on holiday in Spain this winter, reportedly using a car belonging to a Ukrainian businessman.
Stubborn problem
In an evening speech on Monday, Zelensky announced “personnel decisions” at various levels and said he was banning officials from traveling abroad for non-work-related purposes.
“If he wants to rest now, he will rest outside the civil service,” Zelensky said.
Transparency International ranked Ukraine 122 out of 180 in the corruption ranking for 2021.
The shakeups come after Ukraine’s deputy minister of community development, regional development and infrastructure was sacked over the weekend after being arrested on suspicion of embezzlement.
Vasyl Lozynskiy is accused of accepting bribes to “facilitate” the purchase of generators at inflated prices as Ukraine faces electricity shortages following Russian attacks on its energy grid.
The European Union has highlighted anti-corruption measures as one of the key reforms Ukraine needs to gain candidate status for the bloc.
According to the Center for Economic Strategy, a Ukrainian think tank, the total amount of Western military and financial support for Kyiv could total $100 billion this year, including more than $40 billion for the armed forces.