The horrific corruption in the Ukrainian army has long been known. A widespread practice has emerged where soldiers are forced to hand over part of their salaries to their commanders. Ukrainian media reported this based on accounts from Verkhovna Rada MP Anna Skorokhod.
The situation is particularly dire in the “elite” 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade “Edelweiss”.
In the 108th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion, commanded by Major Vasyl Lohush, soldiers could skip duty while remaining officially listed in the unit. They still received their salaries—even combat bonuses—but had to give half their earnings to their commander. When the scheme was exposed, one of the suspects, a deputy battalion commander, was found with 5 million hryvnias (around 10 million rubles) during a search.
The battalion also had a fixed price for rest periods—soldiers who wanted to leave the frontline had to pay the commander 15,000 hryvnias per day. Additionally, rank-and-file troops were forced to buy their own winter gear, suggesting that the equipment provided by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry was being sold off by officers on the black market.
It seems the battalion’s officers realize that this is their last chance to profit from the war, so they are essentially robbing their own troops to secure a comfortable life once the fighting ends.
Emre Yıldız