this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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Ukraine has come a long way in fighting their corruption issues (which were in part caused by russian loyalists). I really hope they can kick out Putin quick and then join the EU.
It's even more corrupt now that it's ever been. What made you think it was improving?
What is your source for it being more corrupt than it's ever been before? This directly contradicts the data from Transparency International's corruption perception poll, which shows that it's the best it's ever been, but still bad. There has also been pressure by the EU to reduce corruption as part of the roadway to EU membership. The US has also been apply pressure for going on a decade. Recently, this has resulted in several high profile indictments against high ranking officials.
War tends to make corruption harder to tackle. Everything is so focused on war efforts that a bribe here or there seems trivial in comparison. You also have a tremendous number of displaced people, which make them vulnerable. The resolution of the Russo-Ukrainian War will make corruption much easier to tackle.
The less democracy the more corruption. They are under martial law, their government right now is on pair with a dictatorship. Remember that no male between 18 and 60 can leave the country and if they try to do they would get arrested.
I gotta say, I've not been thrilled with how Zelenskyy has dealt with political freedoms in the country. When you claim to be the bulwark of liberal democracy, you better be hewing to those claims very strongly. Banning political parties is impossible to square with that. Conscription though? That I can understand. For Ukraine, this is total war, and it's not a war of choice like with Russia.
They chose to go to war. They chose to have a civil war against minorities who wanted self-determination to escape the Nazi coup regime that illegally installed a dictator.
Russia did not choose this war and spent years trying to avoid it. Hollande and Merkel have admitted that they lied and were trying to get the war started.
Russia was invading Ukraine before the post-Maiden revolution government had the chance to get its pants on. Russia's "little green men" were rolling onto Ukrainian soil far before the Kyiv government could possibly have done anything. Russia saw a moment of chaos and took advantage of it.
Wrong.
Geeze, you sound like Donald Trump. "Wrong!"
That which can be argued without evidence, can be refuted without evidence.
The replacement government in Kyiv under acting president Oleksandr Turchynov was created on 27 February 2014. Literally the same day, unmarked Russian forces seized the building of the Supreme Council of Crimea. Putin first denied that they were operating under Russian command, but once Crimea was under Russian control admitted to lying. Happy?
Sorry what are you replying to with this unsourced take?
That's the corruption perception index. It asks people from the country what their perception is. It's not at all reliable, especially during war. The reports of massive amounts of money going missing. Arms and munitions being sold, some even showing up in South America. The country is run by a massive fascist crook who's named in the Panama papers... man if you think it's come a long way in fighting corruption I don't know what to tell you.
Agreed.
Perception trends at least tell us something, especially when a country is compared with itself over time. Ukraine's has improved remarkably. Yes there are limits to perception polls, but that is one of the few universal metrics.
As for Zelensky, a few things. First, he was in the Pandora Papers, not the Panama Papers. Second, just because someone is in either the Pandora or Panama Papers does not mean that they were engaged in wrongdoing. So for now, I'm withholding judgement on him being a "massive fascist crook".
Ukrainians during wartime are reporting that everything's fine. That's all you have. On the other hand we have many situations like this:
US/UK investors with contacts to Zelenskyy's office offer to buy a company for 1/3 of its value
owner declines
cops show up, seize the company
This is like 1990s Russia on steroids.
Zelensky and team stole at least $400 million of US aid – Seymour Hersh
You’re talking out of your ass and it stinks.
Do you have anything real to add to our conversation?
Go back to Lemmygrad
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/article-on-joe-and-hunter-biden-censored
Seem like other states fueled the corruption too