A Ukrainian aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky told Time Magazine on Monday that corruption remains a rampant problem in the country.
“People are stealing like there’s no tomorrow,” a top aide to Zelensky told Time Magazine about bribery and the “pocketing” of “state funds.” The statement was apparently made after the aide asked the reporter “to turn off my audio recorder so he could speak more freely,” Time reported. (RELATED: Republican Senators Introduce Legislation To Provide Aid To Israel, Decouple Ukraine Funding)
“Nobody believes in our victory like I do. Nobody.”
Inside Volodymyr Zelensky’s lonely fight to save Ukraine as war fatigue spreads https://t.co/7uvz7N4Bh8 pic.twitter.com/tgaQyasld3
— TIME (@TIME) October 30, 2023
“I’ve sat in a lot of briefings where I was promised Ukraine doesn’t have a corruption problem. The Biden admin has lied to us. Not one more penny to Ukraine,” Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said on Twitter in response to the article.
I’ve sat in a lot of briefings where I was promised Ukraine doesn’t have a corruption problem.
The Biden admin has lied to us. Not one more penny to Ukraine. https://t.co/JH48L1xZz2
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) October 30, 2023
Former Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov’s firing failed to deter corrupt practices because the process was dragged out, Time Magazine noted. Reznikov was placed under investigation in January 2023 over his ministry’s apparent “purchases of military rations at inflated prices,” Politico reported.
Soldiers at the front reportedly mocked the practice by making jokes about “Reznikov’s eggs,” Time noted. The inquiry led to his firing in early September, The Kyiv Independent reported.
A similar incident occurred when Ukrainian outlet Bihus.ino reported that Zelensky’s top energy advisor’s brother co-owned two solar energy companies that continued to received government funds after Russia occupied the areas and cut them off, Time reported. Zelensky reportedly did not suspend the advisor, Rostyslav Shurma, even after an embezzlement probe was opened.