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Poll Shows Ukrainians See Anti-Corruption Progress Despite Scandals
Confirmed
In Short: Despite the creation of two Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies, Nabu and Sap, over a decade ago, corruption continues to be a significant problem in the country.
According to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published on Oct. 26, around 55% of Ukrainians believe genuine efforts are being made to fight corruption and that progress is being achieved.
The share of respondents who saw progress fell slightly from 57% in December 2025, while the share who viewed Ukraine as 'hopelessly corrupt' rose from 35%. Despite this, 55% of respondents still pointed to genuine efforts to tackle corruption, while 41% said Ukraine was 'hopelessly corrupt'.
Corruption remains the most frequently cited concern, named by 50% of respondents, followed by Russia's mass missile and drone attacks at 40%. A senior Ukrainian official previously told the Kyiv Independent that the batch awaiting U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's approval was 'significant'.
The poll also found that 72% of Ukrainians believe President Zelensky bears personal political responsibility for corruption among his associates.
Kateryna Denisova, a reporter for the Kyiv Independent specializing in Ukrainian politics, noted that the agreement opens the way for an exchange of experience, according to Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi.
While the poll indicates a slight decline in optimism, it also reflects a continued belief in the fight against corruption. Despite a week of efforts to save him, doctors were unable to overcome his life-threatening injuries, the Vodolaha Village Council said.
Oleksandr Danylyuk, chairman of the Center for Defense Reforms and former chief adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, told the Kyiv Independent that Russia is building the military-industrial capacity to continue waging wars even after the war in Ukraine ends.
In a separate development, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who resigned amid a corruption scandal, recorded a video address himself. He announced in a statement that he had formally signed charges against Semen Kryvonos, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
Kravchenko alleged that Kryvonos had attempted to bribe and influence the chief judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court while assisting someone in evading military mobilization.
The accusations triggered an immediate and scathing rebuke from both NABU and SAPO, which dismissed Kravchenko’s claims as a 'systematic attack' designed to undermine independent watchdogs.
Olena Shcherban, a lawyer at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, said that, under Ukrainian law, they can be sent by mail only if it’s impossible to serve them to a suspect in person.
A string of high-profile scandals has implicated top officials and allies of President Volodymyr Zelensky over the past year.
What's confirmed
- According to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published on Oct. 26, around 55% of Ukrainians believe genuine efforts are being made to fight corruption and that progress is being achieved.
- The share of respondents who saw progress fell slightly from 57% in December 2025, while the share who viewed Ukraine as 'hopelessly corrupt' rose from 35%. Despite this, 55% of respondents still pointed to genuine efforts to tackle corruption, while 41% said Ukraine was 'hopelessly corrupt'.
- Corruption remains the most frequently cited concern, named by 50% of respondents, followed by Russia's mass missile and drone attacks at 40%. A senior Ukrainian official previously told the Kyiv Independent that the batch awaiting U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's approval was 'significant'.
- The poll also found that 72% of Ukrainians believe President Zelensky bears personal political responsibility for corruption among his associates.
- Kateryna Denisova, a reporter for the Kyiv Independent specializing in Ukrainian politics, noted that the agreement opens the way for an exchange of experience, according to Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi.
- While the poll indicates a slight decline in optimism, it also reflects a continued belief in the fight against corruption. Despite a week of efforts to save him, doctors were unable to overcome his life-threatening injuries, the Vodolaha Village Council said.
- Oleksandr Danylyuk, chairman of the Center for Defense Reforms and former chief adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, told the Kyiv Independent that Russia is building the military-industrial capacity to continue waging wars even after the war in Ukraine ends.
- In a separate development, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who resigned amid a corruption scandal, recorded a video address himself. He announced in a statement that he had formally signed charges against Semen Kryvonos, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
- Kravchenko alleged that Kryvonos had attempted to bribe and influence the chief judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court while assisting someone in evading military mobilization.
- The accusations triggered an immediate and scathing rebuke from both NABU and SAPO, which dismissed Kravchenko’s claims as a 'systematic attack' designed to undermine independent watchdogs.
- Olena Shcherban, a lawyer at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, said that, under Ukrainian law, they can be sent by mail only if it’s impossible to serve them to a suspect in person.
- A string of high-profile scandals has implicated top officials and allies of President Volodymyr Zelensky over the past year.
What's still developing
- "The worst thing would be if the whole world came to believe that everyone had been evacuated from Oleshky, whilst (people) were still there. And (they) would simply be forgotten," evacuation volunteer Kseniia Arkhipova said.
- OSLO/KYIV/WASHINGTON – U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday after what a U.S. official called “constructive” talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway, as U.S. President Donald Trump said it was time for Ukraine to end the war.
- Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told the state-run Tass news agency that Putin told Witkoff and Kushner that it was necessary to eliminate "all root causes of the Ukrainian conflict," a phrase routinely used by officials in Moscow hinting at maximalist Russian demands that Ukraine be forced to accept neutrality, cut down its military and abandon any NATO aspirations.
- In it, he stated that he had signed a notice of suspicion against the heads of the anti-corruption bodies whose detectives had exposed his own subordinates for corruption. (According to the Ukrainian legal system, a “notice of suspicion” is the official procedural step, prior to indictment or arrest, indicating the status of a person as the subject of a criminal proceeding.) Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
- Merz is also expected to press the Ukrainian government to make progress on reforms required by its EU partners, including efforts to combat corruption.
- Merz said he traveled to Kyiv “because Ukraine needs all our support in the coming weeks.” He said that despite Russian strikes, Ukrainians are not letting Russian terror break them.
- Preparing to leave office amid a fraud probe targeting his own department, Ukraine’s outgoing prosecutor general signed charges against the nation’s top anti-corruption chief, sparking fierce counteraccusations.
- He submitted his resignation last week after investigators searched his office as part of " Operation Carthage," a wide-ranging probe into a criminal syndicate accused of laundering illicit funds and running fraudulent call centers.
- Kravchenko also broadened his offensive to target a close associate of Oleksandr Klymenko, head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
- Ukraine’s outgoing prosecutor general signed a notice of suspicion Monday targeting the chief of the national anti-corruption agency, accusing him of forging documents for massive financial gain and orchestrating a sham adoption to evade prosecution.
- It follows a search of his offices over the weekend by Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators, who said they had identified a money-laundering scheme led by an official in Kravchenko's office.
- He tendered his resignation a day later, thanking Zelensky and the Ukrainian parliament for their "trust".