Ecuador Anti-Corruption Presidential Candidate Assassinated.

Last week Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated while leaving a campaign event in Quito. According to a report by Reuters, Villavicencio was formerly an investigative journalist who focused on exposing corruption and stated that he was not afraid of being targeted by criminal gangs. Violence against politicians in Ecuador is not new. According to a report by the AP from July 23rd, the mayor of Manta, Ecuador’s third largest city, Agustin Intriago, was assassinated by what authorities believe to be organized crime elements.

According to an article by El Pais, both Mexican and Colombian drug cartels have made inroads into Ecuadorian society and have been trafficking drugs, as well as conducting other criminal enterprises. The killing of Villavicencio is concerning for two reasons. First, it hindered ongoing anti-corruption efforts, scaring people into silence and emboldening transnational criminal organizations. Secondly, it adds to the overall feeling of political and social instability in Ecuador.

Ukrainian Military Officers Fired Over Bribery Allegations.

Last Week President Zelenskyy fired officials who led Ukraine’s military recruitment drive over bribery allegations. Under Zelenskyy’s leadership, Ukraine has started to crack down on corruption, partially to improve its prospects of joining the EU and NATO. According to a BBC article, Zelenskyy announced that 30 people would face bribery allegations, including all the regional heads of the military conscription effort. The charges allege that these officials took bribes in cash and cryptocurrency and aided non-disabled men to leave the country. Current Ukrainian law states that all men over 18 able to fight up to 60 can be conscripted. It is admirable to see Zelenskyy clamp down on corruption after years of unchecked greed by other Ukrainian leaders.

Putin vs. Prigozhin: a Struggle For Power In Russia.

This past weekend, the ongoing conflict involving Ukraine and Russia took an unexpected turn. Yevgeny Prigozhin accused President Putin of attacking members of his Wagner paramilitary group. It is well known that relations between the Russian army and Wagner are not cordial. On Friday night, rumors of serious unrest between the two parties emerged. On Saturday morning, numerous reports of Wagner forces streaming toward Moscow, seemingly to confront the high command. Barricades were erected to try and prevent any possibility of a coup. As all of this transpired, the Russian government announced that legal proceedings were being filed against him. Then, suddenly his forces turned back towards Rostov, and it was announced that he would be exiled to Belarus and any charges against him would be dropped.

According to an article from today’s New York Times, Prigozhin stated in a rambling audio message that the motivation for the protest was not to overthrow Putin’s government. It was instead a response to a move by the Russian army to force Wagner fighters to be co-opted into the regular army. Nonetheless, Prigozhin’s actions severely threatened Putin’s legitimacy as president. An article from The Guardian adds that Putin is weaker than he has ever been and that aligning himself with Wagner is proving to be a mistake that could lead to him being deposed as leader. Another critical component is how this impacts the fighting in Ukraine; according to another article by the New York Times, there is hope among the Ukrainian military that the current internal strife within Russia could lead to gains on the battlefield. It is an ongoing and complex story that could go in many directions and lead to many globally significant events.

Vladlen Tatarsky and the Rise of Pro-Russian Bloggers.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine last year, a new type of blogger has emerged in Russia. According to a report by CNN, a growing group of Russians are acting as war correspondents despite not having a journalistic background. These bloggers have embedded themselves within Russian units on the front lines in Ukraine and have developed close links to the regular army and the Wagner Group paramilitary group. These bloggers have become a vital source for on-the-ground information about the war, as the Russian Government is notoriously unforthcoming about the actual state of the war. It must also be noted that while all these bloggers are ultranationalists and pro-Putin, they are not afraid to voice their opinion on how the war should be fought.

This is the background to the events that occurred in St Petersburg recently. Vladlen Tatarsky was a prominent member of the military blogging community in Russia. Recently, he received a likeness of himself in the form of a figurine that just so happened to be filled with explosives, killing and injuring many others in a crowded restaurant called Street food bar #1 Cafe. According to a report in the New York Times, Tatarsky was handed the statuette by a woman called Nastya, who was a sculptor, while he was giving a talk to about 100 people. Shortly after the explosion, a woman named Daria Trepova, who, according to Sky News, is a supporter of the jailed anti-corruption activist Alexi Navalny. The moral of this tale appears to be that one should always be careful when accepting suspicious-looking statuettes.

Ukraine Appoints a New Anti-Corruption Czar.

Last week, the Ukrainian government appointed Semen Kryvonos as the new National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) director. According to a Reuters article, Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal stated that this appointment would satisfy one of the requirements allowing Ukraine to be accepted into the European Union. They must commit to tackling the widespread corruption that has plagued the country for years to gain entry. Despite Kryvonos’ appointment, questions about his suitability for this role have been asked. According to an article published by euromaidanpress.com, the Anti-Corruption Action Center, an activist group in Ukraine, worries that Kryvonos’s previous experience in Ukraine’s urban planning department isn’t sufficient experience for tackling endemic graft. This is a step in the right direction, but Ukraine will have to do more if it is genuinely serious about combating malfeasance and obtaining entry into the EU.

The Wagner Group Sanctioned: Putin’s Corrupt Paramilitary

Recently, a mysterious paramilitary group called the Wagner Group, run by a crony of President Putin, has been in the news. Wagner is run by a man named Yevgeny Prigozhin, who, earlier in his life, was in prison after committing a series of robberies in the early 80s. According to an article in The Guardian, Prigozhin excelled in the free-wheeling culture in St Petersburg in the early 1990s. He quickly moved from selling hot dogs to buying up stakes in supermarkets and a liquor store. Eventually, he started managing a restaurant called the Old Customs House, where he made meaningful political connections.

Not long after, Prigozhin started to get involved in military-related issues due to being awarded catering contracts for the army. Shortly afterwards, according to the article in The Guardian, he asked the Russian Ministry of Defense for a parcel of land to train “volunteers” that would have no links to the regular Russian army. The organization quickly became Putin’s go-to option for any off-the-books military operations and gained a bloody reputation in Syria. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Wagner has taken a more prominent role within the Russian military. On January 20th, Wagner was sanctioned by the U.S. government as a transnational criminal organization. According to an article in the AP, Wagner allegedly spends over $100 million monthly on the war in Ukraine. It is not clear from the article where precisely this money comes from, but it is a safe assumption that it comes from the Russian state. If the West is to aid Ukraine, limiting the ability of people or entities wishing to provide material support to the Wagner group will be essential.

Zelenskyy’s House Cleaning.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recently fired several high-ranking officials in what is becoming an ever-widening corruption scandal. Reports emerged on Monday, the 23rd of January, that Zelenskyy had fired his deputy infrastructure minister Vasyl Lozinskyi for allegedly stealing $400,000 intended to support the war effort. According to an article in The Guardian, Lozinskyi colluded with contractors to inflate the price of items such as generators, and he would pocket the difference. And according to a Reuters article from the 22nd of January, defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov had secured food on contracts at highly inflated prices. Zelenskyy’s deputy cabinet minister was also fired after allegations emerged that he drove luxury cars around Kyiv shortly after Russia invaded.

A recent Washington Post article highlights the role journalists and NGOs in Ukraine have played in exposing corrupt schemes. Also, according to a recent report by The Guardian, Oleksandr Novikov, the country’s lead anti-corruption tsar, has vowed not to let up on pursuing corrupt individuals despite being in a war. According to polling done in Ukraine before the war, only 40 percent of the Ukrainian population was willing to report corruption. However, 84 percent of the population is now ready to report wrongdoing. Surely if Countries such as the US and the UK are going to continue giving military aid to Ukraine, they will want to see some progress on the anti-corruption front.

Sergei Surovikin: Is he Corrupt or Not?

Recently, President Vladimir Putin named Sergei Surovikin as the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. In many articles announcing his appointment, military sources (mainly the Ministry of Defense (MOD) in the United Kingdom) state that he is corrupt, brutal, and ruthless on the battlefield. According to the New York Times, he served in Chechnya in the early 2000s and commanded Russian forces in Syria, where numerous human rights violations occurred. Also, according to a report in The Guardian, Surovikin led a rifle division that broke barriers set up by pro-democracy protesters during the 1991 attempted coup by Soviet hardliners and killed three people.

It is much harder to pin him down on any concrete allegations of corruption other than the possibility of weapons dealing. Brokering arms is undoubtedly an unsavory business, but without in-depth evidence, it seems a stretch to label Surovikin as corrupt. This raises the issue of media outlets and other organizations stating that a person may be involved in corruption, but fail to back up such allegations with credible evidence. It seems clear that Surovikin is likely a war criminal, but is he corrupt? It is much more difficult to tell without hard facts.

The Capture of “Fat Leonard.”

Recently, Venezuelan police captured Leonard Glenn Francis, better known as “Fat Leonard,” after he fled from his San Diego home while under house arrest. Francis, a Malaysian defense contractor was involved in a massive 35-million-dollar bribery and fraud scandal. Earlier this month, according to The Guardian’s Edward Helmore, Francis, who is due to be sentenced for his part in the scandal, cut off his ankle bracelet and left the U.S with the possible intention of going to Asia or Russia. Fat Leonard was brazen in his methods for winning lucrative U.S Navy contracts. He would host lavish parties for members of the U.S. navy in Asian ports, wining and dining the right people to gain preferential treatment in the bidding for resupplying contracts.

On the 27th of September of last year, Aljazeera reported that Fat Leonard has kidney cancer and was attempting to apply for political asylum in Venezuela. According to the report, it has been suggested by the State Department that the socialist government in Venezuela, led by Nicolas Maduro could use him as a bargaining chip to reduce U.S. sanctions. According to PBS, the sanctions toward Venezuela prevent U.S banks from dealing with the Venezuelan government or the state oil firm PDVSA. While the U.S does have an extradition treaty with Venezuela, it does not have an embassy in Caracas, which could make any deal more complicated.

Zelenskyy’s House Cleaning.

Recently. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired several high-ranking officials in what is becoming an ever-widening corruption scandal. Reports emerged on Monday, the 23rd of January, that Zelenskyy had fired his deputy infrastructure minister Vasyl Lozinskyi for allegedly stealing $400,000 that was intended to support the war effort. According to an article in The Guardian, Lozinskyi colluded with contractors to inflate the prices of items such as generators, and he would pocket the difference. According to a Reuters article from the 22nd of January, the defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov had secured food on contracts at highly inflated prices. Zelenskyy’s deputy cabinet minister was also fired after allegations emerged that he drove luxury cars around Kyiv shortly after Russia invaded.

A Washington Post article published recently highlights the role journalists and NGOs in Ukraine have played in exposing corrupt schemes. Also, according to a recent report by The Guardian, Oleksandr Novikov, the country’s lead anti-corruption tsar, has vowed not to let up on pursuing corrupt individuals despite being in the middle of a war. According to polling done in Ukraine before the war, only 40 percent of the Ukrainian population was willing to report corruption. However, 84 percent of the population is now ready to report wrongdoing. Surely if Countries such as the US and the UK are going to continue giving military aid to Ukraine, they will want to see some progress on the anti-corruption front.