Zelensky forbids his officials to leave Ukraine without official reason

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that government officials would be banned from traveling abroad on vacation or for any other unofficial purpose, a move intended to show they would not be allowed to travel.to corruption undermine the defense of the country.

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Zelensky said in his late night speech that he had signed a decree approving the decision of the country’s National Security and Defense Council, following the sacking of a deputy minister over the weekend on charges of misappropriation.

The president said that in a few days a processes border crossing for officials of all levels of government.

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Ukraine is preparing for offensives this spring, with allies preparing to send billions of dollars worth of equipment to Kiev, including some of their most advanced weaponry.

Corruption plagued Ukraine long before Russia launched its full-scale invasion 11 months ago.

The eradication of corruption continued to be a priority during the war, with hundreds of millions of dollars of arms and aid flooding the country and the cost of reconstruction efforts estimated at billions of dollars.

Zelensky, who came to power in 2019 vowing to crack down on corruption, said Sunday he hoped the deputy minister’s ouster would send a “sign to all those whose actions or behavior violate the principle of justice”.

“I want to make this clear: it will not go back to what it was in the past,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ministry of infrastructure The Ukrainian identified the fired official as Vasyl Lozynsky, deputy minister of the area.

His departure came after Ukraine’s main anti-corruption agency and the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office “exposed and terminated the activities of an organized criminal group involved in the misappropriation of budget funds“, according to Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine.

The agency, the National Anti-Corruption Office of Ukraine, said Lozynsky was part of that group and was arrested while receiving a A bribe of $400,000 to help with purchase contracts for equipment and machinery.

Investigators were working to identify others involved in the organization, the agency said in a statement.

The contracts covered the rehabilitation of infrastructure facilities and the supply of electricity, heating and water during the winter, the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

In recent months, Russia has bombarded Ukraine with infrastructure attacks aimed at sowing misery among the civilian population.

Even as Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on with no end in sight, Ukraine’s allies have been grappling with tough questions about rebuilding the country:

Who will pay for what and who should control the process and funds?

What kind of external supervision of money should be required?

The European Union has made Ukraine’s bid conditional on a review of the rule of law, justice and corruption.

In addition to expressing concern that corruption could cloud postwar reconstruction efforts, some US officials have expressed concern that US weapons delivered to Ukraine could be diverted or stolen for resale.

c.2023 The New York Times Society

Source: Clarin

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