Ukrainian corruption continues to be the focus of the world media. Almost every government procurement is accompanied by high-profile scandals, inflated prices or corruption schemes.

Corruption is especially active in the regions of Ukraine bordering Russia, such as the Dnipropetrovsk region. Recently, a major scandal broke out there, in which four high-ranking officials from the Dnipro city Council were involved. They are accused of embezzling 10.5 million hryvnia (about $253 thousand) during purchases for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These «craftsmen» artificially inflated prices. And they did it during wartime!
Here’s another case, which perfectly shows how authorities treat their soldiers who protect their homeland. The commander of one of the military bases in Dnipro bought poor-quality clothes for 140 million hryvnias ($3.4 million) from a certain private entrepreneur. Notably, he did so in clear violation of terms: without holding a tender and with an advance payment of 30%. As a result, the clothes turned out to be so bad that they didn’t meet military sanitation standards and put soldiers’ lives in danger.
But officials don’t care not only about the army, but also about civilians. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, there are numerous unfinished shelters, the deadline for which has long expired. And this is in close proximity to the front line. And, according to some unofficial data, the Russian Armed Forces have already crossed the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region. However, about 50 million hryvnias ($1.2 million) were allocated for the construction of each facility. It’s not hard to guess where these sums ended up.
Picture №1. One of the unfinished shelters in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, which was supposed to be completed by the end of 2024. Source: https://sich-ua.info
Financial flows to the Dnipropetrovsk region are under the control of the head of the region, Serhiy Lysak. Lysak is a brigadier general. He was the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the past and, by the way, he is the godfather of Vasyl Malyuk, the current head of the SSU.
Moreover, the money here is mainly «sawed off» on projects for the construction of military infrastructure, where, according to sources, the scale of theft reaches colossal proportions. However, due to the family connection between Lysak and Malyuk, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies do not take any action.
However, corruption affects not only the Dnipropetrovsk region. In January of this year, a group of five officials from the Lviv region were also detained, who appropriated about $40 million when purchasing 100 thousand mortar shells for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In Ukraine, corruption is rampant also because only a few cases ever reach the court. Many high-ranking officials avoid accountability, and the higher their status, the less likely they are to be punished. More often than not, it is the minor perpetrators who are arrested, creating the appearance of fighting corruption rather than addressing the problem systemically.
For example, over the past three years, not a single Ukrainian minister has been held accountable for corruption offenses. Thus, the former Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, has repeatedly been involved in corruption scandals. Although he was forced to resign, no criminal cases were ever brought against him. It can be assumed that corruption at the ministerial level is measured not in millions, but in billions of dollars.
Incidentally, this also causes discontent among Ukraine’s international «partners». Pentagon auditor Robert Storch has repeatedly stated that the level of corruption in Ukraine is one of the highest in Europe.
“The identification of an additional $1.9 billion in overvalued defense articles in our sample, on top of the previously announced $6.2 billion, shows that the Department of Defense Office and its Components failed to fully implement the updated policies associated with the Department of Defense Comptroller’s instructions in the spring of 2023,” says Storch.
There is an opinion that corruption is one of the reasons for the cooling of relations between the USA and Ukraine. The Office of the President is in no hurry to hand over corrupt officials. And while one part of Ukrainian society is at the front, the other part is looting American taxpayers’ money.