Ukraine's president fires 'corrupt officials' as battles rage

By Stefan J. Bos  

Moscow says Russian air defenses shot down 20 Ukrainian drones targeting the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Russian officials claim that air defense systems destroyed 14 drones while six were electronically jammed overnight and that there were no casualties or damage. It blamed the attack on Ukraine.

Although Ukraine rarely acknowledges such attacks, its President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that the "war is returning to the territory of Russia."

Drone strikes targeting Moscow and Crimea have since increased in frequency. And there are reports that Russian officials are now considering closing Moscow airports.

But Ukraine is facing attacks too.

Dramatic footage has emerged of a suspected Russian missile hitting a hotel in Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, leaving one dead and 16 injured. Moscow says Ukraine also attacked several targets inside Russia.

And all is not well on the front lines since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, with both sites needing more conscripts to replace the hundreds of thousands that were killed or injured.

That has opened the door for even more corruption as men seek to escape including in Ukraine, where President Zelensky confirmed that more than 30 people face criminal charges.

They include all regional officials in charge of military conscription who have since been removed. "In total 112 cases against military officials in military recruitment centers and 33 suspicion notices have been issued against regional, city and district recruitment chiefs, military health commissions employees and other officials," President Zelensky told the nation in televised remarks.

"Power abuse was reported in regions such as Donetsk, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Kyiv, and Lviv. Officials received bribes in cash or cryptocurrency, which was the only difference, but cynicism was everywhere. Our decision is the following: we are firing all regional recruitment chiefs," he said.

Zelensky clarified that replacement officials will be chosen from candidates who have battlefield experience and have been vetted by the intelligence service. He said: "The system should be run by people who know what war is and why cynicism and bribery during the war is treason."

Ukraine's general mobilization rules mean all men over 18 capable of fighting are eligible to be conscripted, and most adult men under 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.

Western officials say corruption in public services is a long-running problem in Ukraine. Tackling graft is vital for the country to join the European Union and other Western institutions.

Watchdog Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Ukraine 116th out of 180 countries, but it acknowledged that efforts in recent years have improved its position.