By Tamar Jacoby
Pavlo Novyk monitors his native Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million near the Russian border, from an apartment 500 miles away in much safer western Ukraine. Part journalist, data geek, and civil society activist—he works for the nonprofit Kharkiv Anticorruption Centre—Novyk spends his days online, scrutinizing Kharkiv government purchases. Once one of the most corrupt cities in Ukraine, Kharkiv is now legally required to make purchases—everything from printer paper to hospital beds to food for animals in the city zoo—through an online portal available to the public.
Westerners watching the fighting in Ukraine are waiting for a breakthrough on the battlefield. But Ukraine’s struggle to free itself from centuries of Russian rule and toxic Soviet-era influences is more than a military face-off. It is also a war on corruption. This second fight is being waged in the capital, Kyiv, where the president and parliament have created a network of anticorruption courts and law enforcement agencies, but also in cities like Kharkiv, where corrupt mayors aligned with Russia have historically stolen public funds with impunity.
The good news from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, once a bustling industrial hub and gateway for trade with Russia: anticorruption activists like Novyk say their 10-year battle against bribery, extortion, and other forms of corruption is beginning to pay off. A combination of new online tools and pressure from international donors has given activists an edge, and city officials have started to respond when civil society groups file complaints.
