Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau opened a criminal investigation into Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on 28 January to determine whether the minister illegally abused his authority by rejecting the contract renewal of the head of the Defense Procurement Agency (AOZ) and replacing two supervisory board members. The dispute is the culmination of a year-long dispute between Umerov and AOZ over the speed and transparency of arms purchases and adherence to bureaucratic governance standards. While AOZ has struggled with corruption and failed arms purchases under successive directors, the Defense Ministry has also been the subject of public controversy for similar issues throughout the war, and there is little support for the legality of Umerov’s latest moves against AOZ leadership. The investigation signals a long conflict within the Ukrainian government between balancing efficiency in delivering necessary public goods while adhering to bureaucratic and legal standards and preventing corruption.  

Sources: Ukrainska Pravda, Kyiv Independent, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Reuters 

The editorial board of the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda accused the Ukrainian president’s office on 9 October of intentionally obstructing its reporting and attempting to prevent state officials of speaking with its journalists. In its statement, Ukrainska Pravda also alleged that the president’s office had successfully pressured advertisers not to cooperate with the newspaper in an effort to deprive it of revenue. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the newspaper of undermining his administration at the behest of his political rivals. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the administration to end any pressure on Ukrainska Pravda. The official accused of orchestrating the pressure, communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, did not respond to Ukrainska Pravda or CPJ but denied the allegations in an interview with the media outlet Liga.net.  

Sources: Ukrainska Pravda, Kyiv Independent, Detektor Media, Liga.net

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin resigned on 22 October, taking responsibility for revelations that dozens of prosecutors and other civil servants under his administration had arranged to be falsely classified as ‘disabled’ as a means of avoiding military conscription. Officials in Khmelnytskyi Oblast reportedly falsified documents in exchange for cash, and investigators reportedly recovered USD 6 million in cash when searching the regional Medical and Social Expertise Commissions office. The scandal comes as Ukraine continues to struggle to meet military recruitment goals and assure Western officials that the country’s anti-corruption drive is making gains. 

Sources: Reuters, New Voice of Ukraine, Censor.net 

The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) passed a bill on 20 August banning religious entities with connections to Russia from operating in Ukraine. The long-anticipated law primarily targets the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (OUCMP), a self-governing church which is under the authority of the Patriarchate of Moscow. OUCMP priests and bishops have been accused of directly collaborating or providing moral and public support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The OUCMP asserts the law is an unconstitutional overreach, and stresses that it separated administratively from the Moscow Patriarchate at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian officials dispute the OUCMP’s characterization of a break with Moscow. The law gives individual OUCMP parishes nine months to integrate with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) or face dissolution. Many parishes are reportedly planning legal opposition to the new law and the OUCMP maintains significant international support. Seventy-two per cent of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians.

Sources: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Kyiv Independent, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Public Orthodoxy

A limited number of Ukrainian journalists were accredited and allowed access to the Verkhovna Rada, the country’s parliament, on 5 May, marking the first time press has been allowed to cover parliamentary sessions since February 2022. Access to Parliament on the basis of security was restricted in the wake of the full-scale Russian invasion. Numerous restrictions remain in place: only 20 to 30 journalists will be accredited, down from 4,000 before the war; direct broadcasts and photographs are still prohibited, and journalistic access will be limited to a press centre. Media freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders welcomed the move as a step in the right direction.

Sources: Ukrainska Pravda, Reporters without Borders

Research published in the journal JAMA Health Forum in May assessing the impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the country’s health infrastructure has found ‘profound devastation’ and a decline in the provision of all non-emergency healthcare services. The decline in routine and preventative services, such as gynaecological treatments and cancer screenings, is likely to have significant downstream effects on public health in the country. The situation in the country has been especially exacerbated by the Russian military’s deliberate targeting of healthcare facilities throughout the conflict, in violation of the laws of war.

Sources: JAMA Health Forum