The war has diverted resources from anti-graft bodies—and created cover for crooks. yuriy nikolov, a veteran Ukrainian anti-corruption activist and journalist, has had plenty of scoops in his time. Yet none, he says, mimicking the sound of an explosion, “that blew up like this!” For several days Ukraine has been gripped by stories of corruption, resignations and the sackings of senior officials. Now the fate of Oleksii Reznikov, the minister of defence, is in question. Since he published his explosive article on January 21st, Mr Nikolov says, soldiers at the front have been messaging him to say that while they fight Russia, he is taking on “the enemy at home”.

Mr Nikolov’s story revealed that the defence ministry had signed a contract to buy food for soldiers at grossly inflated prices. The assumption is that the difference between the price due to be paid for eggs and potatoes, and the price that was supposed to be charged, was to be split between ministry insiders and the company contracted to supply the food. (No money actually changed hands, because the article was published before payment fell due.)