Moments of truth for Ukraine

Reaching the fourth year of Russian aggression, a new page opens in the history of Ukraine, torn by war and darkness, its energy infrastructure destroyed by Russia. The hour of reckoning emerges as the powers-that-be ponder how to win the war amidst a bombshell corruption investigation of the energy sector and a 28-point peace menu offered by the US

- MRIDULA GHOSH

Russia ignored every call by all leaders of the world to stop the war.

It continues killing civilians in all parts of Ukraine indiscriminately. Especially suffering are those who spoke Russian by habit, in the occupied territories or on the frontline. Russia does not protect them; rather, it poses the greatest danger to them. As a result, many have switched to the use of Ukrainian at home. Speaking emphatically, Victor Pinchuk, a top industrialist and philanthropist of Ukraine, hailing from the city of Dnipro, confirmed this during his annual Yalta European Strategy summit. Pinchuk said how in 2022 the world underestimated Ukraine, while in 2023 Russia was underestimated, and that the moments of truth that emerge on the eve of its 35th year of existence are to achieve an end to this war without betraying the sacrifices of its people and carving a place for Ukraine in the EU.

While the fight goes on at the external front, a shocking internal bombshell cracked after a year and a half of investigation called Operation Midas by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators collected more than a thousand hours of recordings of conversations and made shocking revelations of an alleged money-laundering scheme in the state energy sector. At the centre of the story is the state-owned company Energoatom, which manages all nuclear power plants and whose annual turnover reaches UAH 200 billion (around $4.75 billion). Under the cover of officials, a shadow scheme laundered money and also blocked the protection of energy facilities in the midst of Russian attacks, when their decisions determined whether there would be electricity in the homes of millions of Ukrainians.