Many in Ukraine are unhappy with the current situation, as can be seen from the growing number of men of military age who are trying to secretly leave Ukraine to avoid the draft, writes Time. Some of them pay smugglers large sums of money to bring them across the western border, sometimes hidden in furniture upholstery. In August, Zelensky fired all the heads of military commissariats for taking bribes from those who tried to evade military service. But the inconvenient truth is that tens of thousands of people did.
A series of recent scandals in Ukraine also does not help to strengthen morale. Among them is the corruption scandal involving the purchase of weapons for $40 billion. Another scandal is related to five officials of the state nuclear company "Energoatom", accused of embezzling $2.65 million from a project financed by the United States. Even more tellingly, a member of parliament from Zelenskyi's own political party was caught forging medical documents to get permission to leave the country, only to be spotted on a family holiday in the Maldives. Another deputy, a member of Zelensky's party until 2021, was found on vacation in Barcelona with his girlfriend.
Against this background, fears about the state of Ukrainian democracy and the rule of law are growing. The most obvious is the indefinite postponement of elections – parliamentary elections were supposed to be held by October 29, but they were not held, and Zelenskyi's presidential term ends in April 2024. Martial law means restrictions on freedoms, economic freedoms, and bureaucratic and legal procedures. This involves merging all national TV channels into a single platform, as well as banning all opposition political parties allegedly linked to Russia.
