Investigation of Corruption in Energy Sector is a Top Priority Kyiv Post, 27 September 2023Ukraine Detains Official Who Helped Men Flee Draft Kyiv Post, 22 August 2023
"Any Hint" of Corruption "Unacceptable": interview for Kyiv Post NAFTO GAZ, 17 October 2023
Corruption accusations continue to plague top Zelenskiy aides Reuters, 19 September 2023
How much progress has Ukraine's government made against corruption? NPR, 10 October 2023
'Ukrainians understand corruption can kill': Kyiv takes on an old enemy Guardian UK, 19 September 2023
Leaked U.S. strategy on Ukraine sees corruption as the real threat Politico EU, 19 September 2023
Ukraine uncovers corruption scheme implicating top officials Politico EU, 25 August 2023
Is Ukraine really interested in fighting corruption? Economist, 4 September 2023
US increases pressure on Ukraine to do more to counter corruption CNN, 3 October 2023
Battling corruption in Ukraine Financial Times, 30 September 2023
Ukraine struggles to curb corruption in its military Deutsche Welle, 17 August 2023
Corruption Is an Existential Threat to Ukraine, and Ukrainians Know It New York Times, 10 September 2023
Discontent grows over wartime corruption in Ukraine EuroNews, 8 September 2023
Corruption scandals continue to sweep Ukraine's government TIME, 13 January 2023
"In one poll, 77.6% of surveyed Ukrainians said Zelenskyy was responsible for government corruption."
Zelenskyy fires recruitment officials for accepting $10,000 bribes. Almost all Ukrainians think the country has a problem with corruption, survey suggests. Business Insider, 13 August 2023
"The majority of Ukrainians believe that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is directly responsible for dealing with corruption in the government and in military administrations."
Almost 80% of Ukrainians consider Zelenskyy responsible for dealing with corruption in government and military administrations Pravda UA, 11 September 2023
Great post! There is no seriously arguing the fact that Youcrayne is a sinkhole of corruption, utterly undeserving of getting hold of money earned by hard working Americans.
OPINION: Why One of Ukraine's Shadiest Political Operators Has Eluded Sanctions [article by Maryna Shashkova, August 27, 2023]
EXCERPTS:
Who is Andriy Portnov?
Portnov began his legal career in the 1990s in his home city of Luhansk, with the help, according to an investigation by Liga.net, of local authorities engaged in criminal activity.
Portnov was also getting acquainted with Kyiv's political elite and formed a close relationship with Viktor Medvedchuk, then a lawmaker, very rich powerbroker and close friend of Vladimir Putin, once dubbed the "dark prince" of Ukrainian politics.
[Portnov's] rising profile and reputation attracted further opportunities, and in 2005 he joined the team of Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc party and the main competitor of the then-president Viktor Yushchenko.
Despite working for and alongside Tymoshenko, Portnov over the coming years moved increasingly closer to the man who would become her main rival in the 2010 presidential election and one of Ukraine's most controversial politicians in the years after - Viktor Yanukovych.
In 2014, Yanukovych would flee to Russia during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, but in the years preceding his presidential election victory in 2010, he and Portnov gained a reputation for working together to pressure and exert influence on the country's judges.
After Yanukovych became president, Portnov "betrayed" Tymoshenko and joined the new president's team, taking charge of judicial reform.
Shortly after, the Ukraine's prosecutor general opened a number of criminal proceedings against Tymoshenko and she would be jailed in 2011.
In a tweet posted in June 2011, Tymoshenko accused Portnov of being part of a conspiracy to engineer her sentence.
The episode would set the tone for Portnov's time in charge of judicial reform - a massive overhaul of the entire system was undertaken and, according to reports, "not a single judge of the district court in the city of Kyiv was appointed without a personal interview and consent from Portnov."
This appointment of judges loyal to Portnov and the president would pay off, and a number of court cases would rule in his favor, including one in 2014 about his alleged involvement in the deaths of activists during the Euromaidan protests.
Fleeing Ukraine
Portnov's career as well as the public's attitude toward him took a dramatic turn during the Euromaidan protests, when he was instrumental in the drafting of the notorious "Dictatorship Laws" of Jan. 16, 2014, legislation enacted by then-President Yanukovych in an attempt to quell the protests against his rule. The laws were essentially identical to similar legislation enacted in Russia a little more than a year earlier.
The new laws provoked the generally peaceful protesters to turn violent, and the legislation was largely cancelled within a fortnight. But by that point Yanukovych had lost all credibility, and within a month he tried to crush the protests, leading to more than 100 civilians shot dead by security forces.
Both Yanukovych and Portnov fled to Russia.