Ukrainian Defense Minister admits having “failed” in the fight against corruption – RT in French

While Ukrainian troops have lost the initiative on the ground, authorities in kyiv are mired in a corruption scandal over army supplies. The Minister of Defense has promised “audits” on the subject.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov promised on February 5 internal “audits” within his ministry, following a corruption scandal linked to army supplies.

Oleksiï Reznikov admitted during a press conference that the anti-corruption services of his ministry had “failed in their task” and that they had to be “entirely restructured”.

According to him, an “internal audit of all public contracts” has been triggered and there will also be “an audit of international technical assistance”, at a time when kyiv is receiving more and more Western armaments.

Oleksiï Reznikov, however, remained evasive about the possibility of his own resignation, while several Ukrainian media have raised this possibility. He claimed that the decision was up to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Purge at the back of the forehead

Ukraine was rocked by a series of resignations and dismissals at the end of January, amid a corruption scandal revealed by the press which concerned a contract signed by the Ministry of Defense for an allegedly overvalued amount and concerning food products intended for soldiers.

Several senior officials of this ministry have been removed from their posts, while Oleksiï Reznikov had initially denounced “unfounded” accusations.

It was the first major corruption case to break out since the beginning of the Russian offensive, in a country accustomed to this kind of business before the war. But this time, the pill is struggling to pass, while the fight against corruption is a prerequisite for entry into the EU that the country covets, and the Ukrainian army finds itself in difficulty on the line head on.

The Ukrainian authorities then launched a wave of searches against administrations, civil servants and public figures to show their desire to make the fight against corruption a priority in the context of the war effort and the western aid.