Corruption undermining Ukraine’s defense – EU country's president

Lithuania’s Gitanas Nauseda has said scandals are affecting the West’s willingness to supply Kiev with weapons

Corruption scandals in Ukraine are severely damaging its international reputation and defense capabilities, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has warned, claiming that Western leaders are having a harder time justifying further weapons shipments to Kiev.

Speaking to national Lithuanian broadcaster LRT on Tuesday, Nauseda said that since the countries supporting Ukraine are democratic states, it means they must take into account “their society’s mood and their voters’ opinion.”

“Imagine the situation: voters in one of the states see that there are very visible corruption scandals in the aid-directed country,” he went on, adding that “this is a huge reputational blow for this state.”

Last month, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky sacked the regional military officials responsible for the country’s conscription campaign following a string of corruption scandals.

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Ukrainian authorities have launched 112 criminal cases into illegal schemes that allowed draftees to be deemed unfit for military service in exchange for bribes.

President Zelensky has also pledged to “cleanse” the country of corrupt lawmakers and officials.

Speaking to US state-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) at the time, Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko claimed that Kiev’s Western backers are “ready to accept that we may have corruption.” Citing his own “experience” and a “gut feeling,” Marchenko insisted that the problem is at its lowest level in two decades.    

Ukraine has been plagued by rampant corruption for years despite successive governments’ efforts to combat the issue. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, as of 2022, the country ranked 116th out of 180.

In late July, the US State Department released a report sclaiming that “corruption in the Ukrainian government and private sector poses risks to the effectiveness of US foreign assistance over the longer run.”

Over the past few months, reports by several media outlets have alleged that corrupt military officials are stealing part of the Western defense aid and selling it on the black market.