Zelensky’s Government in Crisis as Corruption Allegations Mount
In a survey, 77.6% of Ukrainians said they believed the Zelensky government was responsible for corruption. The survey included interviews with 2,011 people from 135 localities across Ukraine.
This revelation came after Zelensky removed all the heads of regional military committees in Ukraine. A recent survey highlighted that almost all Ukrainians, about 89%, viewed corruption as the most serious issue facing the country after the war against Russia. This survey emerged as President Volodymyr Zelensky initiated an investigation into bribery related to military recruitment.
Conducted with the support of the US Agency for International Development project “Support for Leading Anti-Corruption Organizations in Ukraine” by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, the survey stated, “After the war, corruption is considered the most serious problem.” This sentiment was shared by 89% of Ukrainian citizens.
The survey took place during the winter and involved interviews with over 13,000 internally and externally displaced Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, according to Interfax-Ukraine News Agency, in a separate survey, over three-fourths of Ukrainians stated that they believed Zelensky was responsible for corruption within the country’s military and governmental administration.
The Interfax report stated that in the survey, which was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology for the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation think tank, 77.6% of Ukrainians directly held the President accountable for corruption. The report referenced a statement by Petro Burkovsky, Executive Director of the think tank, who said, “Delaying in resolving problems, which undermines people’s confidence in victory, will weigh heavily on the President as well.”
According to Interfax, the survey was conducted with the participation of 2,011 interviews from 135 localities in Ukraine in July.
Notably, in a video posted on his official Telegram channel, Zelensky addressed allegations of aiding people eligible for bribery, especially cash and cryptocurrency, among military officers, or helping them flee the country.
Local reports indicated that last month, Ukrainian investigators detained the former military commander of the Odessa region on charges of illegal enrichment, dereliction of duty, and evasion from military service. Allegations were made that he and his family had purchased a $4 million property and luxury automobiles in Spain.
As per Newsweek’s report, Ukraine is home to 1,795 military commissioners, 135 of whom are under the scrutiny of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption. In Zelensky’s Telegram message, he said, “The places of commissioners will be given to soldiers who stayed at the front or who cannot be in the trenches because they have lost their health, lost their limbs, but have retained their honor and have no doubt – they can be entrusted with this recruitment system.”
In recent years, corruption scandals have deeply affected Ukraine, with President Biden once likening it to “eating away at the country like a cancer.”
