The European Court certifies Russia's proxy war in Donbass since 2014
That corruption has always been a pervasive phenomenon, enveloping and permeating the administrative bodies of the state and Ukrainian society at all levels, is a well-established and well-known fact. It was almost considered a cultural element of the country, inherited from current practices in the Soviet Union. The mass demonstrations that took place in Maidan Square and other Ukrainian squares between 2013 and 2014, which later culminated in the "Revolution of Dignity," had among their primary objectives the fight against corruption and its eradication, starting with the removal of the then president, Viktor Yanukovych, and his entourage, deemed to be at the top of a pyramid of corruption. The protesters, stubbornly occupying public spaces, looked to Europe as a lifeline against rampant corruption. The Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine, negotiated and then reneged by Yanukovych himself, represented a turning point for the protesters, a unique and unrepeatable opportunity to reform and clean up every sector of the state from top to bottom . Out of 177 countries evaluated in 2013, Ukraine ranked 144th, among the worst, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index compiled annually by Transparency International . When Yanukovych fled in February 2014, spurred by the Maidan movement, I was in Kiev, and with hundreds of other citizens I took the opportunity to go to the dacha that the president had set up with shady transactions a few kilometers from the city without anyone knowing, even though it was an open secret. I remember the astonished expression on the taxi driver's face who had accompanied me to Mezhyhirya, entering the abandoned presidential residence with me, faced with the luxury and unbridled pomp. He didn't speak a word of English, but with his gestures and the expression in his eyes, he managed to convey to me all his indignation and anger, which reflected that of an entire people. In the years that followed, the fight against corruption dominated Ukrainian politics, especially at the insistence of European partners, who tied funding to compliance with EU transparency standards. The debate, in particular, was between those who wanted the creation of specialized bodies within the ordinary judiciary, as in all "normal" countries, and those who preferred that these bodies be completely separate and independent, given the emergency situation. In the end, the second option prevailed, underscoring the gravity of the phenomenon and the new authorities' determination to combat it. Thus, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) were established, two agencies free to act and conduct investigations without constraints.
The position of these bodies should have been strengthened by the 2019 election of Volodymyr Zelensky, who had made the fight against corruption his main agenda, only to stumble on July 22 when he signed the law recently passed by the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, tying the hands of NABU and SAPO, bringing them under the control of the presidentially appointed Chief Prosecutor. This was a veritable coup, according to some analysts, given that NABU inspectors even went so far as to investigate the president's inner circle. This is also true of the overwhelming majority of the population, who immediately took to the streets again to protest despite martial law. Those demonstrating today in Ukraine are the same civil society that spontaneously demonstrated against the then regime ten years ago. It is truly unfortunate that in Italy, in some circles, even pacifist ones, the Putinian narrative has prevailed, namely that the demonstrators in Maidan Square were a handful of right-wing extremists with neo-Nazi leanings controlled by the USA.
Today's events prove otherwise. The European Court of Human Rights' ruling of July 10, following the November 17, 2022, ruling of the Hague District Court, also attests to the opposite. The ruling held that "Russia is responsible for numerous violations of international law for supporting anti-Kiev separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014, for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that same year, and for the invasion of Ukraine in 2022." Contradicting those in Italy who still maintain that the Donbass war was a civil war, the Dutch judges affirmed that "Russia was responsible for the actions of the Russian armed forces and armed separatists."
Simply put, the Donbass war that began in 2014 was a proxy war waged by Russia against Ukraine. Transparency International 's 2024 Corruption Index ranks Ukraine 105th out of 180 countries (Russia is 154th). This is a marked improvement over ten years ago, but much remains to be done. Meanwhile, the Maidan wind has returned to its former glory, forcing Zelensky and parliament to backtrack on Thursday to restore the independence of Nabu and Sapo, who can now resume their operations without undue pressure.
Photo by La Presse: Russian soldier during an exercise in the Donetsk People's Republic
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