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When A major corruption scandal has surfaced in Ukraine Late last week, journalists were faced with an agonizing dilemma between professional duty and patriotism. The first thought that came to my mind was: “Should I write about this for foreigners? Will this make them stop supporting us?”
There was no doubt about the seriousness of the matters coming into the public domain. They cut to the heart of the war economy. In one instance, investigators were probing whether the deputy infrastructure minister had profited from a deal to supply electricity generators at an inflated price, while the Defense Ministry was being overcharged for supplying food and catering services to troops. The contract was being investigated.
Big stories, but in a sign of our life-or-death times in Ukraine, even my colleague Yuri Nikolov, who got the scoop on the inflated military contract, admitted that he didn’t want to publish his investigation. For he did everything that he could not do. He took his findings to public officials in the hope that they might be able to resolve the matter before he eventually felt compelled to run for it. ZN.UA Website.
Getting news that shocks your country, forces your government to launch an investigation and reform military procurement, and triggers the resignation of top officials is generally something that makes other journalists jealous. But I completely understand how Nikolov feels when your country is at war. Russia (and other critics of Ukraine abroad), after all, are looking to pounce on any opportunity to undermine trust in our authorities.
A journalist is meant to be a little distant from the situation he covers. It helps to be objective and stick to facts, not emotion. But what if it’s impossible to remain neutral because you have to cover an invasion of your own country? Naturally, you have to keep holding your government accountable, but you are also aware that the enemy is looking to exploit any opportunity to erode trust in the leadership and undermine national security.
This is exactly what Ukrainian journalists have to deal with every day. In the first six months of the invasion, Ukrainian journalists and watchdogs decided to pause their public criticism of the Ukrainian government and focus on documenting Russian war crimes.
But it backfired.
“This pause has resulted in a rapid loss of accountability for many Ukrainian officials,” said Mykhailo Tkach, one of Ukraine’s top investigative journalists. A column for Ukrainska Pravda.
His investigation into Ukrainian officers leaving the country for lavish vacations in Europe during the war led to President Volodymyr Zelensky banning officers from traveling abroad during the war for non-work-related issues. It also provoked the dismissal of the powerful deputy prosecutor general.
The Ukrainian government was forced to react to the corruption and undertake a major reshuffle almost immediately. Will it happen if Ukrainian journalists decide to sit on their conclusions until victory? I doubt it.
Is it still painful when you have to write about the failures of your government officials when overwhelming enemy forces are trying to wipe your country off the planet, using every opportunity they can to shake the trust of your international partners? Are? of course it is.
But in this case there was definitely room for optimism. Things are changing in Ukraine. Under intense pressure from civil society and a free press, the government had to react very quickly. Memes and social media posts quickly appeared mocking the government’s pledge to buy eggs at massively inflated prices. Ultimately, the Deputy Infrastructure Minister was fired and the Deputy Defense Minister resigned.
This quick response was praised by the European Commission and shows how far we really are from Russia, where the authorities do not seek officials accused of corruption, but journalists who report it.
As Tkach said, many people believe that a war with an internal enemy will begin immediately after a victory over an external enemy.
However, we really can’t wait that long. It is important to understand that the sooner we win the fight against the internal enemy – high-profile corruption – the sooner we will win the war against Russia.
“Destroying corruption means getting additional funds for the country’s defense capability. And that means more military and civilian lives saved.” Takach said.