Policing corruption in war time conditions: lessons from two years of a full-scale war in Ukraine.

• In Event: POL Panel 21. Policing research, police knowledge networks and how to translate research into practice.

Abstract

Measuring success in policing corruption is a difficult, and often political, issue. Ukraine, as many other Eastern European countries, has struggled to contain both political and societal corruption for many years. Following the events of the 2014 Maidan protests, efforts were made to create a new institutional framework to address political corruption. Since 2014, national and regional surveys have registered a change in attitudes to corruption in the Ukrainian population. However, policing political corruption remains problematic. The full-scale Russian invasion that started in February 2022 put a different light on anticorruption measures. This national emergency also afforded unlimited opportunities for corruption. In this presentation we critically discuss the impact of the war on policing corruption, transparency and accountability of state officials. We review data from national surveys, as well as data we have collected as part of an annual regional community-based policing project that we have conducted in eastern Ukraine each year since 2013.

Authors

• Anna Markovska, PIER/ Anglia Ruskin University

• Oleksii Serdiuk, Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine/ Head of Research Laboratory for Psychological Support of Law Enforcement

• Iryna Soldatenko, Karazin Kharkiv National University