Ukraine’s defense ministry reschedules election of anti-corruption council members

Ukraine’s defense ministry is facing unpleasant questions after it annulled the results of the vote for members of the Public Anti-Corruption Council and postponed the new election on Thursday.

The ministry blamed technical issues, citing “website instability and user authentication errors”,  and promised it will fix it before the rescheduled vote.

“The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine sincerely apologizes for the technical malfunctions that occurred during the online voting for members of the Public Anti-Corruption Council,” the ministry stated.

The vote is now set to take place on January 7, 2025.  The move raise eyebrows with some civil activists calling out the defense ministry over what they call a ‘deliberate disruption’.  Among those is Yurii Hudymenko, a war veteran and Democratic Axe civic group leader, who is aso running for a position in the recently established council that must oversee procurement programs in the ministry.

Hudymenko argued that some individuals reported their votes before the official start of the election, suggesting irregularities in the process. “It’s as if the ballots were already in the box before the voting even began,” he added.