Corruption reports and strikes: Ukraine on 14 August 2023
A look back at a day of missile strikes on Odesa, set against a run of corruption disclosures about military procurement and recruitment.
What did Ukraine's public institutions face on 14 August 2023? On the battlefield, Russian forces struck Odesa with missiles and drones, injuring three people and damaging civilian infrastructure.
The strike came after a weekend of disclosures about corruption in the defence sphere. On 12 August 2023, a government investigation reported corruption at recruitment centres in 11 regions, with 112 criminal proceedings opened. Bribes averaged around US$6,000 for a medical certificate granting an exemption from military service.
On the same date, a New York Times investigation reported that a company tied to Serhiy Pashynskyi, who had previously been under investigation for corruption, had become the biggest private arms supplier to the Ministry of Defence. The investigative website Dzerkalo Tyzhnia also published documents showing that the ministry overpaid for summer camouflage kits bought as winter coats for troops. The documents were suspected to be linked to an investigation launched in June by Ukraine's security services into former Deputy Defence Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov.
Fighting beyond Odesa
On 12 August 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defence said it had shot down twenty Ukrainian drones over Crimea. Sergey Aksyonov, head of the Republic of Crimea, said three Ukrainian missiles had been shot down over the Kerch bridge. Also on 12 August, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the Northern Fleet and visited a Rosatom nuclear weapons test site in Novaya Zemlya.
Taken together, the reports showed a wartime state under strain from two sides: continued Russian attacks and public scrutiny of how its own defence system was run.
