Should we hear, in the words of the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, Tuesday, January 31, a harbinger of what was going to happen the next day? Camped behind his desk for his daily address to the nation, the Head of State had discussed the preparations for the summit between his country and the European Union (EU), scheduled for Friday, February 3, in kyiv, as well as “new reforms in Ukraine. Reforms that will change the social, legal and political reality in many ways”.
The next day, Wednesday 1is February, waves of searches and dismissals of officials and personalities accused of corruption shook the country. Without being strictly speaking “reforms”, these operations were no doubt also a message sent to European leaders to prove to them that his government made the fight against chronic corruption one of its top priorities. Presenting this operation as a campaign aimed at “deal a blow to the enemy within”, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Vassyl Maliouk, assured that “this is only the first step in the complex and systematic work that the SBU is already carrying out”. “And we have no intention of stopping! », he added.
The balance of the day is important. Ukrainian authorities said they raided the homes of billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky and former interior minister Arsen Avakov. Senior officials from the Ministry of Defense also received visits from investigators. The entire leadership of the country’s customs service was fired, and the State Investigation Bureau carried out searches in the tax department, accusing “the head of the Kyiv tax office of conspiracy for multi-million dollar enrichment”.
Don’t lose credibility
On Wednesday evening, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked “law enforcement officers, who have demonstrated the power of law and the state today”, calling the day “fruitful in the confrontation with those who, even now, tried to weaken Ukraine”. Ten days earlier, the first corruption scandal since the start of the war over inflated prices for the purchase of military rations had resulted in the sacking of a series of senior officials. Since then, the authorities have been working to avoid losing credibility with their Western allies. Since the start of the war, the latter have provided unprecedented military and economic support.
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