Ukraine says it has uncovered major arms corruption
Ukraine says it has uncovered major arms corruption
Ukraine's security service accuses senior officials of trying to steal about $40m in an order for mortar shells.
Ukraine's security service says it has uncovered corruption in an arms purchase by the military worth about $40m (£31m).
The SBU said five senior people in the defence ministry and at an arms supplier were being investigated.
It said the defence officials signed a contract for 100,000 mortar shells in August 2022.
Payment was made in advance, with some funds transferred abroad, but no arms were ever provided.
Corruption has been a major stumbling block in Ukraine's bid to join the European Union.
The SBU said an investigation had "exposed" officials of the ministry of defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, "who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells".
Well the silver lining is that Zelensky is trying to clean this up
99Ukraine is trying to become part of the EU. In order to do that, they need to show compliance with corruption laws.
44I think it also boosts morale. People will be very reluctant to support the war, if they see that most of their efforts, money, or lives are wasted on corruption.
14
Yeah he ran on corruption but his approval ratings weren't doing the best before the war started.
7wasn't he trying to make corruption be treason? how that's going?
-2Neither is he the sole leader of Ukraine, nor is he a dictator or something the likes, Ukraine still has a parliament that needs to ratify such decisions.
56
Yeah but he got to president in Europe's most corrupt government, we're all rooting for him because of the war, but the chances of him being clean are slim.
-19Yeah, he's trying to clean it up by banning opposition parties and consolidating news under his government's control 🙄
You can be on Ukraine's side against Russia's illegal invasion without pretending that Zelinski is perfect, you know..
-32All of those opposition parties banned have explicitly been in favor of Russia annexing Ukraine. Literally every one.
Not only that, you make it sound like he did this by himself. There has been a ton of parliamentary agreement and has also been upheld in numerous appeals (incl by judges not having any associations with Zelensky).
I’m by no means a “Zelensky-stan” and have my own criticisms, but either you are seriously being misled or are being malicious/spreading misinformation.
Not only that, Ukraine runs a parliamentary government. There is no “opposition party”. Americans for some reason always view foreign government political parties through the lens of American politics. This is not like the government banning Republicans. This is like banning the “Socialists for the release of Alaska to Russia” party.
38Zelensky used to be a comedian, which was his first instinct and was his desire. He wanted to make people laugh.
These other politicians wanted power so they came into this life. to control people and gain power and influence.
If there is ever a chance to clean out some of this corruption , Zelensky seems to be the guy to trust.
22
Good work ukraine!
9This is the best summary I could come up with:
The SBU said an investigation had "exposed" officials of the ministry of defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, "who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells".
"According to the investigation, former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are involved in the embezzlement," it said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cited the fight against corruption as one of his main priorities when he came to power in 2019.
The latest allegations come as Republicans in the United States push back on President Joe Biden's efforts to send more aid to Ukraine.
In August, President Zelensky fired all the officials in charge of military recruitment to end a system in which some people were being allowed to escape conscription.
Ukraine was ranked 116th out of 180 countries in a 2022 corruption perceptions index by campaigning and research organisation Transparency International.
The original article contains 336 words, the summary contains 150 words. Saved 55%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
5This war just feels like Russia fighting Russia sometimes.
-10how
3