SHOCK: The Australian Financial Review Just Published this Shocking Hit Piece Against Zelensky and the Massive Corruption in Ukraine. Is the Australian Media Finally Admitting the Truth we have known all Along?
“The crooks Zelensky once satirised look a lot like the friends he has in office today.
Australia should be willing to question the kind of system and standards its taxpayers are paying to defend.
That raises the risk that rogue elites are pocketing the money – or arms falling into the hands of terrorists. In one instance, former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari even alleged that weapons intended for the Ukrainian frontlines had turned up in Nigeria’s Lake Chad region.
If Wong is serious about the rule of law abroad, she should be more scrupulous about the oversight, reporting and auditing of aid out of Australia and push Kyiv to reform its corrupt ways, even if we don’t have the same leverage as America or Europe.
There are also reports of military personnel receiving illicit payments and inflated air defence and arms procurement contracts.
A $100 million kickback scheme involving energy reconstruction contracts siphoned funds directly away from protecting Ukraine’s power network against Russian bombardment. The alleged ringleader, Zelensky’s close associate Timur Mindich, absconded over the border at 2am in a luxury taxi before anti-corruption cops came knocking on his door. The scandal hit the economy hard and made ordinary Ukrainians’ lives even more wretched through the winter.
Demanding accountability proves we are serious about democratic institutions, values, and standards, and about the kind of Ukraine we want to see emerge from the war.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong loves preaching the gospel of the rules-based international order, the global playbook designed to protect democracies, preserve peace, and maintain world stability. It’s the doctrine behind Australia’s support for Ukraine against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion.
But it’s a sermon she reads selectively. On the corruption driving Ukraine’s democratic backsliding, Wong has next to nothing to say.
While matters of corruption should be for Ukraine to sort out, the West has gone to extraordinary lengths to defend Kyiv and protect its right to choose its own future.
Ukraine has long struggled to kick this cancerous habit it inherited when it broke free from the Soviet Union 35 years ago, where civil society had been debased by seven decades of authoritarian communist rule. Today, the rot has infiltrated President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle. Several of his close associates face allegations of embezzlement, bribery and money laundering, even as the conflict with Russia intensifies on the border.
This month, Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency launched a massive probe, this time into a money-laundering network allegedly tied to top officials in Zelensky’s office. It follows several other investigations into the nation’s top officials.
Meanwhile, Mykhailo Fedorov, the popular former defence minister sacked by Zelensky, released a video blasting leadership graft, incompetence and demanding an election. No Ukrainian political figure has done that during the conflict before.
“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia” Fedorov said. Zelensky retorted that a wartime vote would be a “tsunami” capable of tearing the country apart.
Fedorov probably has his eye on Zelensky’s job. But his remarks are difficult to ignore.
Democracy is harder to practise during hostilities. Martial law precludes elections, meaning Ukrainians haven’t voted since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Wartime powers have kept Zelensky in power two years past his mandate and centralised his rule. Zelensky has muzzled political opposition and media critics. Last year, the government tried to hamstring the independence of two anti-corruption bodies. It took angry Ukrainians marching in the streets to force Zelensky to relent.
“Even if Zelensky personally remains untainted, the scandals threaten his political legitimacy and the collective efforts to defend Ukraine.”
It’s a strange place for the Ukrainian leader to have landed. A decade ago, the adored TV comedian played a schoolteacher in Servant of the People (the name he gave his political party), who was unexpectedly thrust into the presidency and began railing against the shady elites. His character once proclaimed: “What kind of people are we, that we keep voting for these motherf — ing liars knowing that they are crooks?”
The crooks Zelensky once satirised look a lot like the friends he has in office today.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia has a different read. “Despite not having an election for seven years due to martial law, democracy remains robust in Ukraine”, he tells me. “The fact that Ukraine can continue to maintain democratic norms in a wartime situation is one of Putin’s greatest fears.”
Matters of corruption should be for Ukraine to sort out. But the West has gone to extraordinary lengths to defend Kyiv and protect its right to choose its own future.
Australia should be willing to question the kind of system and standards its taxpayers are paying to defend.
Australia’s overall support for Ukraine totals more than $1.8 billion, including over $1.6 billion in military assistance since the start of the conflict. Australian defence forces continue to train personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under Operation Kudu.
Canberra has taken comfort in sending aid through vetted international channels rather than writing direct cheques to Kyiv. None of this is foolproof, though. Tracking where ammunition and weapons end up once they cross into an active war zone is notoriously hard.
That raises the risk that rogue elites are pocketing the money – or arms falling into the hands of terrorists. In one instance, former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari even alleged that weapons intended for the Ukrainian frontlines had turned up in Nigeria’s Lake Chad region.
There are also reports of military personnel receiving illicit payments and inflated air defence and arms procurement contracts.
A $100 million kickback scheme involving energy reconstruction contracts siphoned funds directly away from protecting Ukraine’s power network against Russian bombardment. The alleged ringleader, Zelensky’s close associate Timur Mindich, absconded over the border at 2am in a luxury taxi before anti-corruption cops came knocking on his door. The scandal hit the economy hard and made ordinary Ukrainians’ lives even more wretched through the winter.
Other donors, such as the EU have put some pressure on Ukraine to clean up its act. Last year, Europe froze €1.5 billion in Ukrainian aid and made disbursements contingent on Ukraine meeting good governance standards. The United States, too, has indicated that certain kinds of economic aid will be linked to Ukraine’s progress in reforming its institutions.
It’s easy to view Ukraine’s struggle with corruption as a side issue while fighting the Russian bear at the border. But widespread graft actually undermines the broader war effort – not just from Western partners.
Think about the sacrifices of the millions of valiant Ukrainian soldiers and civilians who have fiercely fought for freedom and independence over the past four and a half years
The conflict could very well drag on for years. Without elections to flush out the bad guys, political venality will continue to fester, and it will be harder to break the stranglehold of grasping oligarchs. Even if Zelensky personally remains untainted, the scandals threaten his political legitimacy, the Western-backed collective effort and the democratic values Ukrainians hold so dear.
None of this is an argument for Australia pulling the pin on Ukrainian foreign aid. We have a self-interest in seeing a triumphant Ukraine that goes beyond democratic self-determination. Like the rest of the West, Australians are invested in taming Russian aggression and see the small European nation as a proxy for the rules-based order they want in their own region.
Allowing Ukraine to fall would be an admission of defeat and expose the West’s weakness against autocratic regimes with expansionist ambitions. For global rules to matter, though, they must apply equally to allies, even when under attack.
Australia rallying behind Ukraine cannot mean turning a blind eye to inconvenient truths. Otherwise, our commitment to international norms looks performative, not principled.
If Wong is serious about the rule of law abroad, she should be more scrupulous about the oversight, reporting and auditing of aid out of Australia and push Kyiv to reform its corrupt ways, even if we don’t have the same leverage as America or Europe.
Demanding accountability proves we are serious about democratic institutions, values, and standards, and about the kind of Ukraine we want to see emerge from the war.
Resources:
https://t.me/AussieCossack/51133
https://www.afr.com/world/europe/zelensky-was-elected-to-fight-the-crooks-now-they-are-his-friends