Ferry Sandi, CNBC Indonesia
Saturday, 12/08/2023 21:45 WIB
Photo: AFP via Getty Images/RONALDO SCHEMIDT
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the dismissal of all the heads of Ukraine’s regional military recruitment center after the officials were accused of taking bribes from those trying to avoid the front line.
At a time when the country’s army is in need of new recruits, Ukraine’s president is disappointed that there are those who want to avoid temporary military service by handing over money to military officials, while the rest of society is suffering. He saw it as a form of betrayal.
“This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason,” he said in a video statement. The Guardian, Saturday (12/8/2023).
“On the other hand, soldiers who have experience in the front line or who cannot be in the trenches due to loss of health, loss of limbs, but still maintain their dignity and have no cynicism, are the ones who can be entrusted with this recruitment system,” he continued.
Zelensky, who was elected in 2019 on a pledge to eradicate corruption that is endemic in the country, has in recent months sought to challenge such practices privately and publicly.
In January, he dismissed a minister, Vasyl Lozynsky, and several of his close associates accused of embezzlement, who also left the government.
Last week he also denounced the “rebellious practices” of some people involved in military recruitment after an official in the southern Odesa region was mysteriously found to have obtained US$5 million in savings and a property in Spain.
There are 112 ongoing criminal proceedings against officials of the military registration office. Zelensky said there was evidence that some were taking bribes in cash, whereas some were taking cryptocurrency.
“Illegal enrichment, legalization of illegally obtained funds, illegal benefits, illegal transfer of persons responsible for military service across borders.”
The Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has been ordered by Zelensky to hire a new head of the territorial recruiting centre, with an inspection process from the security services.
“Any ‘military commissar’ who is subject to criminal proceedings will be held accountable,” Zelensky said.
However, Zelensky did not mention further alleged corruption cases reported in Ukrainian media involving the defense ministry.
According to documents seen by investigative news website ZN.ua, the defense ministry overpaid for summer kits purchased from Turkey as overcoats for military troops.
It is said that a total of 4,900 jackets that should have cost US$142,000 were bought for US$421,000. The difference between the two prices is said to have remained with a Turkish company that supplied goods belonging to a Ukrainian from the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.
The defense ministry denied paying more for the clothing. In June, an investigation was launched by Ukraine’s security services against Vyacheslav Shapovalov, former deputy defense minister, and Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, former head of the state procurement department at the defense ministry, in purchasing low-quality winter clothing from abroad.
It is unclear whether the two cases are connected. To be sure, Shapovalov and Khmelnytskyi denied wrongdoing.
The corruption scandal has emerged as Ukrainian forces come under increasing pressure from Russian advances east of the Kharkiv region, in the country’s northeast.
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2023-08-12 14:45:00
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