Ukrainian MP blames corruption for troops fleeing army
Widespread corruption and extortion of combat pay by military commanders are driving Ukrainian soldiers to abandon their units, Ukrainian MP Anna Skorokhod has claimed.
In a video posted last week on her YouTube channel, Skorokhod accused Ukrainian commanders of exploiting soldiers by falsely registering them as serving on the front lines in order to claim additional payments, which the officers then seize.
According to the MP, the commanders also often use the soldiers to “build houses or renovate new apartments” while making sure they receive combat pay, which is then surrendered to their superiors. “Or the soldiers are simply being extorted, because they supposedly get 100,000 hryvnia [$2,400], but there is no command, so they are forced to give up money.”
Skorokhod said the soldiers have few ways to address these grievances, resulting in recurring AWOLs. “Because when there’s nowhere to turn, no one listens or wants to listen, people simply gather in platoons, in groups, and leave because they will not tolerate this.”
Last month, Ukrainian journalist Vladimir Boyko reported that there have been more than 213,000 registered cases of unauthorized abandonment of military units in Ukraine. He noted that these figures only account for cases where criminal proceedings have been initiated, suggesting the actual numbers may be higher.
Meanwhile, there have been concerns in Kiev that the cash-strapped country, which is to a significant extent dependent on Western economic aid, could struggle to compensate its military. In April, Ekonomicheskaya Pravda reported that funds initially allocated for military salaries in the latter part of 2025 were redirected to purchase drones, ammunition, and other weaponry.
In May, the first deputy chairman of the parliamentary finance committee, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, suggested that Ukraine faced a 400 billion hryvnia ($9.6 billion) shortfall in defense spending, which he said requires budget revisions.
In addition to recurring AWOLs, Ukraine has been struggling with its forced mobilization campaign, which often leads to violent clashes between reluctant recruits and draft officers.
Russian official found dead after being fired by Putin
Svetlana Petrenko, official representative of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, announced Monday that "the body of the former Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Roman Vladimirovich Starovoit was found in his personal car with a gunshot wound."
His death, which Petrenko described as a suicide, remains under investigation. There wasn't any official reason given for why Starovoit was fired from his post, but he was immediately replaced by Andrei Sergeevich Nikitin, according to a statement released Monday.
The firing did come after a weekend that saw a great deal of transportation issues as Ukrainian drone attacks led to the cancellation of 485 flights by Russian airlines, while 1,900 were delayed and nearly 90 needed to be redirected.
Airlines were forced to refund 43,000 tickets, place 94,000 people in hotels and spend around $4,500 on food and drink for customers. A report from the website Kommersant states that in the end the issues will combine to cost approximately $255 million.
However, Russia also attacked Ukraine with drones Sunday evening into Monday morning, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted to X Monday that 101 drones were launched by Russia, which left one person dead and 27 injured.
"We are also actively advancing agreements on investing in our domestic weapons production, including all types of drones," he wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment