Poverty & Corruption

Ukraine’s poverty and corruption are visible on the road between Kraków to Kyiv, but most journalists and public figures take the train. I arrived in Kyiv via a rental car on the E-40, Europe’s longest highway. 

 

In Poland, the E-40 is a modern and well-maintained highway with multiple lanes. In Ukraine, the E-40 immediately shifts to a single-lane back-road riddled with potholes. 

 

Poverty  – the state of lacking money and resources 

 

The first major city across the border is Lviv, where the E-40 becomes indistinguishable from any side street in the city. Between Lviv and Kyiv, the E-40 deteriorates further at times, with construction detours leading onto dirt and gravel. 

 

Traversing this highway after dark from the border to Lviv, and then through a snowstorm from Lviv to Kyiv, I didn’t fully comprehend the meaning of what I was witnessing, and I brushed off Ukraine’s poverty as a necessary sacrifice of the war effort. Upon sober analysis, though, it’s hard to believe such decrepit infrastructure can support such a widespread war effort. 

 

Comparing figures from the World Economic Forum, which ranks Ukraine’s roadways among the poorest in the world, only 22 nations have roads of poorer quality than Ukraine. Notoriously impoverished nations like Mali rank higher than Ukraine, even as Ukraine has deployed its special forces to Mali to hunt Russia’s Wagner Group militants. 

 

By American and European standards, Ukraine is an impoverished nation. Beyond the roads, public servants during clear snow from the famous Maidan Square with homemade snow shovels, made by fastening plywood onto wooden handles. Many other sidewalks in the center of town remain sheets of pure ice as shoveling is disregarded. 

 

Consider also the fact that 70% of Ukraine’s energy production has been destroyed during the war effort, and it's hard to ignore the debilitating poverty facing Ukraine as a nation. The media can paint Ukraine as modest and humble, but the reality is that Ukraine is poor, and there is little nobility in poverty. 

 

After a few weeks in Ukraine, I became disillusioned with the nation. Plywood shovels and slipping grandmas aside, Ukraine and its allies fail to see the connection between its infrastructure and war effort. Ukraine has become entirely enveloped in its war effort without realizing that non-military elements of its governance impact the war effort and command attention. 

 

Corruption – the improper or illicit use of organizational functions for the benefit of the managers 

 

As I drove home through Ukraine toward Poland, I didn’t think my disillusionment with the regime could become more stark, but then I was passed by a hundred-thousand-dollar Mercedes G-Wagon with a siren blaring on its roof. Whether the siren was a corrupt police officer or a wealthy citizen able to buy his way out of trouble for impersonating a police officer is beside the point – only highly corrupt nations have G-Wagons with sirens within their borders. 

 

I laughed it off, just happy to be heading home, until I arrived at the border the following morning. I left Lviv for Poland just after curfew ended, and I expected a brief wait at the border, but instead, I found myself waiting seven hours in a queue just 500 meters from the border.

 

Meanwhile, luxury cars constantly sped to the front of the line and quickly passed into Poland. With seven hours to reflect on this experience in real-time, trapped in a glass case of emotion, I finally understood the reality of corruption and inequality in Ukraine. The wealthy are free to circumvent standard procedures, while ordinary people, including women and children, face rigid controls and uncertainty.

 

The chaotic border process highlighted how access and freedom were often determined by proximity and privilege, underscoring systemic issues of corruption and favoritism.

 

Corruption in Context

 

My experience in Ukraine clarified that my previous dismissal of corruption as Russian propaganda was misguided. The removal of Ukraine’s Defense Minister and all of his deputies on corruption-related charges and Transparency International’s ranking of Ukraine at 105th out of 180 for corruption underscores significant governance issues that threaten democratic institutions.

 

Ukrainians themselves acknowledge corruption but often underestimate its scale. The stark contrast between the corruption I observed and the democratic ideals Ukraine aspires to highlights the urgency for reform.

 

Ongoing tragedies, like the bombing of Kyiv’s largest children’s hospital, further stress the need to address systemic corruption. Ukraine’s infrastructure decay and corrupt border practices reflect broader issues that undermine its democratic progress and the safety of Ukraine’s citizens. Despite the ongoing conflict, urgent reforms are needed to ensure transparency, fair treatment, and robust democratic processes.

 

The disrepair of infrastructure and the exploitation of border controls are not isolated incidents but part of a larger pattern of systemic corruption that affects all levels of Ukrainian society. After all, the Ukrainian people’s fight against corruption sparked the conflict a decade ago, leading to the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych. Despite progress, corruption remains a severe threat, jeopardizing the hard-won achievements of the Ukrainian people.

 

Although Ukrainians aspire to combat corruption, democratic oversight is severely wounded and increasingly replaced by military control. Corruption infiltrates Ukraine’s borders, courts, and conscription officers, who accept bribes from those wealthy enough to buy their way off the front line. Meanwhile, those unable to afford bribes are dragged from their workplaces and homes and forced into combat. 

 

Corruption may be a Russian talking point, but it’s also a reality of life in Ukraine. While joining the European Union (EU) will surely help Ukraine to escape poverty, Ukraine must immediately rein in corruption to emerge from this war as a robust and prosperous democracy worthy of joining the EU.