A month ago, while rumors circulated that Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, and HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov were facing the sack, Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin’s position seemed strong and stable. Despite facing questions from anti-corruption activists and some MPs, his department was on top of its remit. It was actively documenting war crimes in the liberated Russian-occupied territories, and he continued to work undisturbed...
…until Oct. 7, when a corruption scandal involving a surprising number of disabled prosecutors emerged. Dozens of prosecutors reportedly obtained disability certificates from the corrupt Regional Medical and Social Expert Commissions (MSEC) in Khmelnytskyi which allowed them to evade the draft and to qualify for state pensions.
Millions of dollars in cash were found in the home of the head of the MSEC with photos showing bundles of money lying on her bed.
It was an open secret that some Ukrainians were “pulling strings” to get a disability status allowing them to avoid mobilization, but as investigations progressed the true scale of the racket was revealed. It was found that the MSECs in almost every region were issuing the certificates making it impossible to confirm how many Ukrainians declared as disabled are genuinely incapacitated.
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Kostin’s reputation was hit once more a few days later when it was revealed that, in the same region where the MSEC scandal was first uncovered, 61, mostly male, employees of the regional prosecutor’s office had disability certificates apparently issued before the full-scale invasion.
Kostin responded by saying on Oct. 20: “I believe that all prosecutors whose disabilities are in question should voluntarily undergo a second examination. This has not been done within criminal proceedings yet. I also initiated the creation of a working group including international experts to assess the situation comprehensively and develop solutions to prevent such abuses in the future.”
But this did not calm the situation so, two days later, Kostin resigned. President Volodymyr Zelensky called a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council and issued instructions for the activities of the MSECs to be investigated. It was also announced that the MSECs would be abolished by Dec. 31, with all disability cases set for review.
What exactly does this mean and will it lead to an end to corruption in the disability registration system?
Post-Soviet Institution
MSECs that determine the level of disability and assign a category depending on the level of incapacity for an individual were set up in 1992. They were ostensibly supposed to reform the old Soviet medical-labor commissions system, but effectively it was just a renaming exercise. The work of the MSECs remained as opaque and unregulated as the old Soviet-era system. According to Kyiv Post’s sources, including lawyers and doctors, this led to widespread abuse. Many Ukrainians registered fake disabilities either to collect additional pensions or to avoid mobilization. Some turned the obtaining of certificates a business, with social media pages advertising disability registration services.
On the face of it the number of disabled people in Ukraine matches the European average. About 3 million people are registered disabled - roughly 10 percent of the population – a level similar to that in Germany, Poland, and France and lower than the US.
However, since the war began, the numbers of people declaring disabilities in Ukraine increased by 10 percent, from 2.7 million at the beginning of 2022 to 3 million by 2024, it had grown to 3 million – this despite around 6 million Ukrainians or 25 percent of the population having left the country.
Kyiv Post’s sources reveal that obtaining a fake disability registration could cost between $2,000 and $3,000. They say that some who genuinely qualified for disability benefits refused to apply because they couldn’t or wouldn’t pay a bribe. It is extremely difficult to determine how many false disability declarations exist, as it is likely the “pay for paper” problem has persisted for decades.
Why Prosecutors?
Law enforcement sources say that some prosecutors began registering disabilities to secure additional earnings. Prosecutors who started working after 2016 are entitled to a pension amounting to 60 percent of their salary, while those employed prior to then receive 90 per cent of their salary after 25 years of service, including 15 years in certain positions.
“Not all prosecutors are scoundrels. We shouldn't tarnish the entire prosecutor's office. Even in the Khmelnitsky prosecutor’s office, where the scandal occurred, 49 male employees out of over 100 received disability status,” one prosecutor told us.
According to MP Mariana Bezuglaya, there are 8,367 prosecutors in Ukraine, with nearly 500 of them registered as disabled, most of whom are men.
“Kostin was expected to react more harshly, perhaps dismissing prosecutors with disabilities. Instead, he only called for a reevaluation,” another prosecutor said.
This is a little unfair as, without evidence, Kostin had no grounds for dismissing his subordinates, proving a fake disability requires a medical reevaluation, which poses its challenges.
Pitfalls of “Decisive Decisions”
Zelensky’s response was swift- he ordered an immediate investigation into MSEC activities during which searches quickly uncovered large undeclared quantities of foreign currency in the possession of MSEC heads in various regions. This was sparked Kostin's resignation and a promise to abolish MSECs by Dec. 31.
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) responded rapidly to the President’s instruction and has already canceled over 4,000 MSEC disability certifications, seemingly delivering a decisive blow to the corrupt system.
“Kostin’s removal provided a speedy answer to the demand for justice, rather than waiting to review each individual disability case,” journalist Tetiana Nikolaenko, a member of the Ministry of Defense’s Anti-Corruption Council said.
However, the law doesn’t allow MSEC disability decisions to be simply canceled, no matter how questionable they may be. Under the current law, a disability status must be reevaluated, and this can only be done by an MSEC. Before MSECs are abolished then a new law is required to establish how the 3 million disability cases will be reviewed and by whom.
The knee-jerk reaction to abolish MSECs before the year's end seems questionable. Many individuals, potentially many thousands, deprived of their disability status are likely to file lawsuits which will prolong the process for months or even years.
Ukraine has a history of hasty dismissals - after Euromaidan in 2014-2016, many law enforcement officers were dismissed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs because of their role in suppressing protests. However, many were later reinstated through court rulings. The same could happen for both “disabled” prosecutors and those who granted their certification.
“It is crucial that a new body be created to take over the former medical commission’s functions and that previous MSEC staff not be employed there; otherwise, the reforms won’t make sense. But so far, no such law has been introduced in Parliament,” one lawyer working on MSEC-related issues under the current law.
… and after Kostin?
Zelensky has yet to appoint a successor to the Prosecutor General. A similar gap occurred after Kostin’s predecessor, Iryna Venediktova, resigned - nine days passed before Kostin was appointed. This time the selection process could take even longer.
One potential candidate, according to media reports, is Oleh Kiper, a longtime prosecutor who currently heads the Odesa Regional Military Administration. On one hand, his tenure has been free of scandal, and he is described as confident, direct, and tough. On the other hand, he was appointed as a deputy in the Prosecutor General’s Office during the Yanukovych era led to his lustration, a ruling that was reversed under suspicious circumstances in 2019.
Regardless of who becomes the next prosecutor general, they will face the challenge of reforming the prosecutor's office while avoiding scandals like those that led to Kostin's downfall. It won’t be an easy task, and those putting themselves forward for the position may be short.
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