President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine announced on Friday that his government was dismissing all of the country’s regional military recruitment chiefs to crack down on corruption, after multiple revelations of officers taking bribes to
let men evade being drafted into fighting the Russian invasion.

The announcement this week that since the invasion prosecutors had opened 112 case against 33 officials involved in recruitment offered the latest evidence that the war had provided new avenues for the entrenched governmental corruption that has long plagued Ukraine.

Two recruitment officers have been accused in recent days of enriching themselves by falsifying documents that label men as unfit for service — in some cases collecting $10,000 per head.

The allegations come as bombs are falling on civilians, soldiers are dying, Ukraine is trying to enlist more troops to replace those killed or wounded, and millions are sacrificing to ensure the nation’s survival.

Zelensky did not hide his contempt in announcing that he was firing the 24 regional recruitment chiefs, saying in a video posted on social media that “the system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason”. Those officers who are removed but have committed no wrongdoing, he added, should serve at the front “if they want to keep epaulettes and prove their dignity”.

All of the existing heads of the centres will be replaced by “soldiers who have been at the front or who cannot be in the trenches because they have lost their health, lost their limbs”.

Corruption over draft evasion strikes a nerve for people like Oksana Borkun, whose husband, Volodymyr Hunko, was killed fighting the Russians. “Indignation arises, anger, both towards those who give a bribe and those who take it,” said Borkun, who lives in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv. “Despair arises, because there are many guys on the front line who need to have been replaced a long time ago, because they are very exhausted.”

But Andriy, an officer in the Territorial Defence Force, said corruption in recruitment centres was well known, and that rooting out some of those responsible was unlikely to have a big effect on mobilisation. Andriy, who discussed political matters on the condition that his surname not be used, said: “Those who would like to avoid would do that anyway.”

Zelensky, playing to multiple audiences, needs to fend off such cynicism. To continue the war, he must assure Ukrainians that their sacrifices have been worthwhile and coax them to do more, while satisfying his western backers that he does not tolerate corruption and that the fortune they have poured into propping up his military and government has not been wasted.

US and European officials say there is no evidence that aid to Ukraine has been stolen or abused, but even the perception of fraud could threaten political support.

The scale of enlistment corruption and draft evasion is unclear, but this is not the first scandal to shake the administration of Zelensky, who took office in 2019 vowing to fight systemic corruption.

One scandal involved paying drastically inflated prices for food for the military, which led to the ouster of several top government officials. And the government acted on the recruitment scams, as it did on the food procurement scandal, only after they were reported on by Ukrainian news media.

New York Times News Service