Well into its third year of trying to vanquish Ukraine as an independent nation, Russia has finally learned a key point about war: that soldiers count on their superiors not to steal basic resources like food, weapons, and transport.
In other words, honesty and integrity are essential resources in an armed force.
In recent weeks, five top Russian officials involved in supplying the military have been arrested on corruption charges. The longtime defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, has been removed and replaced by an economist, Andrey Belousov, with a reputation of not being corruptible.
Mr. Belousov speaks of the need for “optimization of military spending” and for greater efficiency in industrial production. Most of all, he says he would operate from an “ironclad principle: it’s possible to make mistakes but it’s inadmissible to lie.”
The purge of generals hints that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking enough integrity in a highly corrupt military to win the war. It may also mean he has recognized Ukraine’s many successes in curbing corruption – even in the midst of war and a ballooning defense budget.
“Most Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions are showing pretty good results,” Andriy Borovyk, executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, told the BBC. Over the past decade, Ukraine has improved its ranking in the annual corruption index from Transparency International, while Russia’s ranking has gone down.
Will better honesty in governance give Ukraine the edge to win the war? Russia’s pro-war bloggers have long complained that their country’s heavy losses on the battlefield are due to corruption – the stealing of funds, fuel, and equipment.
A victory for Ukraine may depend on what isn’t visible or measurable. An army does not just “march on its stomach,” as Napoleon supposedly said. It also wins on the virtues of its leaders.