Ukraine’s Zelensky Fires Draft Officers After Alleged Corruption Hobbles Recruitment

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was firing the heads of regional draft boards in a bid to rid the system of corruption as the country’s armed forces struggle to break through Russian positions in their slow-moving counteroffensive.

Friday’s move follows a flurry of misconduct allegations directed against the heads of recruitment offices, ranging from forging documents to help men evade the draft to physical abuse of subordinates. It comes at a critical moment in the war, with Ukraine facing increasing challenges in raising the troops it needs to advance toward the south and east and reclaim territory lost to Russian forces during last year’s invasion.

“People leading the system must know exactly what the war is and why cynicism and bribery amid war is treasonous,” Zelensky said on Telegram after meeting with the country’s Security and Defense Council.

The council, which includes representatives of Ukraine’s law-enforcement agencies, advised the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhniy, to fill the positions with officials directly involved in combat operations. The prospective replacements will undergo additional checks from the country’s security service before assuming the positions.

The revamp signals the growing importance of finding enough troops as Ukraine tries to overrun Russian positions and regain lost ground.

Ukraine had a standing army of 260,000 when Russia invaded, of which up to 17,500 had already been killed before Kyiv launched its counteroffensive, according to purported leaks of highly classified U.S. documents that surfaced in April.

The military has banked on patriotic fervor to replenish its ranks but increasingly relies on drafting men who are banned from leaving the country. Enlistment officers in military uniform hand out summonses in public spaces, playing a game of cat-and-mouse with some men seeking to dodge being drafted or flee abroad.

Some men have tried to get out of serving by offering bribes to the officials in the local enlistment offices.

Ukraine’s population is less than one-third the size of Russia’s, not accounting for the exodus of millions since the war began, Kyiv says, complicating the drive to source enough troops.

Earlier this week, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations reported on Telegram it was looking into 112 criminal cases related to abuse of positions by employees at the territorial recruitment centers.

The key role centers play in mobilization efforts during the counteroffensive didn’t preclude some officials from “disregarding conscience and the responsibility for the country’s fate for personal gain,” the bureau said.

The government turned its attention to enlistment officers in late June when a case involving the head of the Odesa draft board, Yevhen Borysov,

Borysov has since faced allegations of illegal enrichment and avoidance of professional responsibilities from the investigations bureau. He previously has said he isn’t involved in any wrongdoing.

The wave of inspections included lifestyle monitoring from Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention. The agency gave priority to checks into financial activity among all the enlistment center leaders and their families, the agency’s head Oleksandr Novikov said in a televised interview.

Write to Anastasiia Malenko at [email protected]