Accusations of Corruption In Ukraine Are War Fatigue in Disguise | Opinion

While U.S. debate about corruption in Ukraine will likely continue to intensify in the coming months, Washington should not lose sight of three fundamental goals they have committed to: Ukraine's victory, the Kremlin's defeat, and Ukraine's democratic prosperity.

There are multiple reasons why discussions about corruption in Ukraine will be in the news, including the differing views on aid of the U.S. presidential candidates, the perceived success of Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive, and Russia's ability to promote "Ukraine fatigue" among Kyiv's partners.

Ukraine and Corruption

Corruption in Ukraine should not surprise anyone. The country has traditionally experienced rampant bribery and conflicts of interest, especially in its courts, law enforcement, and tax administration. There is no reason why that would magically go away in a matter of months after February 2022. But Ukraine's corruption also should not be a reason to avoid supporting the embattled country. The stakes are too high for the West to turn its back. Ukraine may still single-handedly eliminate the Russian threat and protect the international order of the 21^st century.

Ukraine's skeptical partners must recognize that while endemic corruption is a systemic problem, it is not an intrinsic one: corruption is not somehow part of Ukraine's DNA. Thus the solution must be systemic as well.

Furthermore, the majority of Ukrainians have tirelessly demonstrated that they do not want to live with a Soviet-inherited system of corruption. Ukraine has shown significant progress during the past decade. Transparency International's (TI) 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scores Ukraine at 33 out of 100 (where 0 is "highly corrupt" and 100 is "very clean"). Back in 2013 that figure was 25, where Ukraine ranked 144 out of 180 countries. According to TI's latest assessment for 2022, Ukraine ranks at 116. In fact, the nation has gone through an impressive list of reforms since 2014. The fight against corruption was the main reason why Ukrainians fought during the Revolution of Dignity.

Ukraine's counteroffensive: unrealistic expectations

There has been an unrealistic view of what Ukraine's army can achieve within a short period of time and with limited resources. These disparities between expectations and reality have created tensions both internationally and domestically.

This has taken a toll on Ukrainians. The longer the war, the higher the likelihood of Ukrainian society being exhausted—an outcome the Kremlin is betting on. This debilitation, coupled with any perceived lack of progress with government reform, will result in more vocal criticism of the government. Ukrainians remember the lost opportunities for real change during the Orange and Euromaidan revolutions. This time, the stakes are much higher. It will be disastrous if Ukrainians start losing faith in entire state bodies again, instead of understanding that corruption is the result of relatively few individuals who are gaining hefty kickbacks from a rigged system.

What should the U.S. Do?

The Biden administration has asked Congress to approve $60 billion in additional assistance for Ukraine. To cement a bipartisan consensus, Democrats and Republicans must crystalize an accountability system that ensures that assistance to Ukraine is being used correctly. The U.S. specifically allocated $42 million for this oversight and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that "we have added dozens of transparency and reporting requirements, so Congress has more insight than ever."

Congress should codify its support for Ukraine so that aid is set in stone, and independent from partisanship. Most of Ukraine's aid is provided via supplemental packages that are vulnerable to political wrangling. Having a Ukraine aid package that repeats annually will send Russia a clear message.

What should Ukraine do?

The cornerstone of Ukraine's overall reforms lies within the country's judicial system, which is resistant to change. What needs to be done to successfully reform Ukraine's judicial system has been well known, but the problem is hesitant implementation. This must change. In parallel, Ukraine will have to launch a major anti-corruption media campaign to clearly communicate to its partners that it is taking its fight against judicial corruption seriously, including that all newly appointed members of judicial bodies have untarnished integrity. The replacement of individuals in key ministerial positions could be helpful, but it will not pierce through the country's systemic issues of corruption. During her recent visit to Ukraine, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker, among her applaud of Ukraine's leadership also reminded that Ukraine should continue the course with its anti-corruption efforts. A recently leaked strategy document reveals that the Biden administration is still greatly concerned about corruption in Ukraine.

Conditionality

Additionally, as the initial chaotic phase of the full-scale invasion has passed, the likelihood that more conditions will be placed on support by Ukraine's allies increases. Conditionality should be used with utmost care by Ukraine's partners, in order to uproot corruption without hurting the nation's security. This conditionality should not be tied to direct military assistance, but only to economic aid.

Crisis brings with it an opportunity to make fundamental changes: the U.S. Congress can establish a long-term Ukraine aid package that is immune to partisanship, while Ukraine has a chance to speed up reforms immensely. Ignoring Ukraine's corruption cannot be an option, as it will come back to bite Ukraine's security, as it has in the past, but corruption cannot be the reason to stop aid to Ukraine. With U.S. long-term aid uncompromised, tying only U.S. economic aid to anti-corruption conditions could kill two birds with one stone: it will root out any remaining kleptocrats in Ukraine while disarming the ones in the Kremlin. And all that without spilling a drop of U.S. blood.

Ilya Timtchenko is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School. As a Belfer Young Leader Student Fellow, Ilya was a research assistant for Ambassador Paula Dobriansky under the Future of Diplomacy Project and was a research assistant for the Intelligence Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Before studying at Harvard, Ilya was a journalist based in Kyiv from 2014 to 2021.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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