Since 2014, it has been a maxim that Ukraine is in fact fighting two enemies: Russia and corruption. The horrifically destructive Russian invasion is an existential threat to Ukrainian statehood, but corruption both undermines effective resistance in the war and derails Ukraine’s ambitions for closer ties with Europe. Eradicating corruption is now literally a matter of life and death.
Eroding international trust in Ukraine’s government is one of Russia’s key objectives, in the hope that it could slow or reduce western material and political assistance. The narrative that Ukraine is a basket case, unreformable and utterly corrupted, has long been a Kremlin propaganda narrative. In his speech ahead of the invasion, Putin said that, despite the efforts of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies, “Corruption has been in full bloom, and it is still in full bloom, more than ever.”
