Armed Forces of Ukraine servicemembers will be allowed to report corruption and protected from retaliation for doing so
Servicemembers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive broader rights to help prevent corruption in their units and will be protected from retaliation for reporting it. The government has approved the relevant bill developed by the Ministry of Defense.
The Ministry of Defense press service reported this, according to Censor.NET.
The document proposes amendments to the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The current version of the statute permits servicemembers to report only unlawful decisions by commanders, unlawful disciplinary action, and other violations directly affecting them.
How servicemembers can report corruption
If the Verkhovna Rada adopts the bill and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs it, every servicemember will be able to report corruption detected in the military, even if it does not directly affect them. Reports may be submitted through:
- internal channels — the Unified Whistleblower Reporting Portal and dedicated telephone hotlines;
- the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), the National Police, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) or the prosecutor’s office;
- external channels — the media, civic associations or trade unions.
Protection of servicemembers
The new rules will also provide protection for military whistleblowers.
A servicemember who becomes a whistleblower may not be discharged from military service, forced to leave, subjected to disciplinary action, or exposed to other adverse measures because of their report.
Colonel of Justice Serhii Stepanian, Director of the Department for Prevention and Detection of Corruption at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, emphasized that adopting the document is necessary to provide legal protection for servicemembers who expose corruption in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Such amendments will increase transparency within military structures, strengthen mechanisms for preventing corruption, and guarantee reliable protection for whistleblowers against possible retaliation or pressure.
