Journalist calls for action on thousands of draft dodgers and bribe-takers in Ukraine

"What was known from the start seems to have disappeared from the radar: Ms. Krupa kept records of bribe-takers—people who paid her money to dodge the draft. Imagine if investigators got hold of that list. Given Krupa's wealth, we're likely talking about thousands of people bringing her thousands of dollars. What if investigators went after these thousands of people: 'Hello, we'd like to have a word. You paid a bribe.' The issue wouldn't just be, 'Now you're off to the army to serve and repay your debt,' but instead, they would face criminal charges for bribery. There could be a thousand bribery cases in just the Khmelnytskyi region," Nikolov said during the Radio NV broadcast.

The journalist pointed out that society has "grown used" to punishing those who give bribes only when it's impossible to punish the one who took them.

"When a high-ranking official takes a bribe from a businessman, sometimes the businessman is punished, and the official gets off," he said, offering an example.

Nikolov stressed that thousands of cases for dodging military service would be "a powerful signal from the state to citizens about what kind of behavior will be punished."

"This wouldn't just be a single illustrative case but something that would affect thousands of people. If similar actions were taken in other regions, it could have a systemic impact on public consciousness and tolerance for corruption," the journalist added.