Silence until victory: Zelensky has prohibited Ukrainian journalists from writing about corruption

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky privately urged Ukrainian journalists not to promote the topic of corruption until the end of the war after the release of a journalistic investigation on inflated prices for food products for Ukrainian military personnel (eggs at 17 UAH each).

This information was disclosed by Yulia Mostovaya, the chief editor of “Zerkalo Nedeli” (Mirror of the Week) during the National Media Talk 2023 conference.

She learned about Zelensky’s meeting with journalists from her colleagues, as she was not invited. (The investigation on inflated food procurement prices was published in “Zerkalo Nedeli”). Mostovaya noted that they would have accepted these conditions if the President had said:

“I don’t want this issue to erode our rear lines, affecting the capabilities of the front. So, here’s a person – Andriy Borysovych [Yermak], or anyone else. Here’s his phone number. If you have well-founded leads, facts, please come and present them to this person; he will answer the phone immediately. Give us a week to respond. If there’s no response within a week, then print, show, write about it. But give us a chance to make amends.”

According to her, such an offer was not made by Zelensky.

Additionally, besides “Zerkalo Nedeli’s” investigation, it was reported that journalists from “Schemes” discovered that suppliers of food for the army purchase them two to three times cheaper than what they sell to the military.

The winter scandal regarding procurement cost Vyacheslav Shapovalov, the Deputy Minister of Defense, his position.