The founders of the StateWatch analytical center, Oleksandr Lemenov and Hlib Kanevsky, want to join the public anti-corruption council at the Defense Ministry. These activists have been involved in a number of high-profile corruption scandals. Law and Business reports that they have already been admitted to the competition, which will elect 15 members for 2 years through open online voting.
The publication notes that civic activists are actively using the so-called "shabuning" - evasion of military duty under the guise of working for non-governmental anti-corruption organizations.
Oleksandr Lemenov and Hlib Kanevsky are known for actively evading military service, and the latter has already managed to work for the Defense Ministry and buy army canteens for the front at an inflated price.
According to the publication, the conscript Lemenov was wanted by the National Police for evading mobilization. In 2023, he did not appear at the DTCR to update his data. In this regard, the recruitment center appealed to the police to forcibly bring Lemenov to the Bila Tserkva TCR as someone who had committed an administrative offense of failure to appear on a summons. Lemenov's neighbors, interviewed by the police, said that the activist fled through a neighbor's apartment when the TCR employees came to his house. Later, when the summons was served, he barricaded himself in his apartment.
In February 2024, Lemenov underwent a medical examination at the Bila Tserkva TCR, was found to be absolutely healthy and fit for military service, and in the summer of the same year it turned out that he was already allegedly included in the reserve of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense in the rank of captain.
According to Law and Business, another candidate for the Defense Ministry's anti-corruption council, Kanevskyi, first evaded military service for a long time and later found a job at the Ministry of Defense. While serving as the acting director of the Defense Ministry's Procurement Policy Department, he purchased army flasks for the front at a price three times higher than the usual price. These circumstances were exposed by NGL Media journalistswho published an investigation. Kanevskyi publicly acknowledged this fact only after the journalists' exposure.