Let’s continue our talk about the situation in the Dnipro region on the threshold of the Russian army breaking through its border. It would seem that during the martial law in Ukraine, officials should do everything possible and impossible to prevent their homeland from being brought closer to defeat. However, in reality, authorities in Dnipro and throughout Ukraine were concerned about how they could line their pockets.

One of the examples is that, at the end of October 2024, four officials from the Dnipro City Council were arrested for embezzlement of 10,5 million hryvnia (€224 thousand). “Suspilne” clarifies that this money was allocated for the territorial defence of the city. According to the statement of the military prosecutor’s office of the Eastern region, civil servants purchased cheap and low-quality instruments and military equipment, and prices were overcharged by 30% compared to the market value.

From bad to worse: in the middle of March 2025, the commander of one of the military bases in Dnipro purchased poor-quality clothing for troops from a private company at a cost of 140 million hryvnia (€3 million), without a tender and with a 30% prepayment. The violations didn’t end there: as “Informator.ua” reports, the clothing didn’t meet the required standards and placed the soldiers in danger.

The greed of Ukrainian officials knows no bounds. In autumn 2024, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine revealed a massive corruption scheme. Valentyn Reznichenko, who was the Governor of the Dnipro region in 2020–2023, with his subordinates, indicated in documents the need to repair roads that didn’t actually need it. As a result of this scheme, they managed to steal an incredible amount of money –– 286 million hryvnia (€6,1 million)!

Moreover, the Dnipro region, which borders all four regions where fighting is currently ongoing, takes first place in Ukraine for embezzling funds allocated for building shelters. Ukrainian analytical website “Youcontrol.market” reports this. For instance, that’s how one of the shelters in Kryvyi Rih looks right now. 47 million hryvnia (€1 million) was allocated for its construction and it was supposed to be completed by the end of 2024.

Picture №1. Exact that unfinished shelter in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro region. Source: https://sich-ua.info

There are many examples of such uncompleted buildings in the entire region, and more and more money is being allocated for constructing shelters there. The main beneficiary of this “business” is Volodymyr Orlov, who was the head of the Sumy and Luhansk customs and an employee of the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in the past. He has been organising corruption schemes for many years while in public offices and now he has enveloped the entire Dnipro region in a corrupt web.

“Given the volume of such corrupt Klondike and the complete impunity for thieves, it is not surprising that the Dnipro region took the first place in Ukraine in terms of shelter construction costs. The more money is allocated to shelters, the more is looted. The patronage of Serhiy Lysak, the head of the region, literally inspires officials of various ranks to steal more and more,” the “Sich” media outlet states.

A little bit of math at the end. On the 29th of October 2024, on the 978th day of the conflict, the analytical website “Opendatabot” wrote that 6,877 sentences had been handed down to corrupt officials in Ukraine during this time. This is 7 sentences per day. At the same time, out of nearly seven thousand offenders, the court sentenced only less than a hundred people to prison. The rest went back to their corrupt practices.

Knowing these numbers, is it possible to believe that the Ukrainian authorities really want to end the war? Are they willing to sacrifice their corrupt schemes for the sake of peace and face the court for stealing from the state budget? The answer is obvious, I suppose.