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Kyiv's recruitment purge and defence procurement scandal
Summary
A look back at mid-August 2023, when corruption allegations and a sweeping dismissal of recruitment chiefs dominated Ukrainian politics.
What was happening in Ukrainian politics on 13 August 2023? The days around that date were dominated by corruption concerns in the country's defence structures.
On 11 August 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the dismissal of all heads of regional military recruitment centres, citing corruption.
The following day, 12 August 2023, the investigative news website Dzerkalo Tyzhnia published documents indicating that the Ministry of Defence had overpaid for summer camouflage kits that were 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 Vyacheslav Shapovalov, a former Deputy Defense Minister.
Moscow's signals
Also on 12 August 2023, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the Northern Fleet and visited a Rosatom nuclear weapons test site on Novaya Zemlya, as part of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Taken together, the developments showed pressure on Ukraine's wartime institutions to demonstrate accountability in how troops were recruited and equipped, while Russia's defence chief toured military and nuclear facilities.
