Fruits of Ukraine's Police Reform: Cops Left Car-less, Shirtless and Out of Ammo

Ukraine's police force is running out of gas for its patrol cars, while officers face the danger of being left without sufficient ammunition for their weapons in just a few weeks' time, Ukraine National Police head Sergei Knyazev warned.

Speaking at an expanded ministerial meeting of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs earlier this week, Knyazev complained that the National Police needs about $150 million US more in funding to function properly; existing funds may run out before the end of the year, he warned.

According to Knyazev, Ukraine's 2017 police budget amounts to 16.6 billion hryvnia (about $620 million US), which is catastrophically insufficient for the police force's needs. Accordingly, he recommends an additional 4.2 billion hryvnia ($150 million) in spending.

The police chief stressed that the National Police force's current supplies of gasoline will run out in June, with ammunition for firearms running out by next month. Knyazev also complained that in the majority of cities, towns and settlements across Ukraine, the police officers still haven't been equipped with the new American-style uniforms introduced in some cities in 2015.

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman promised to find the necessary funding. "We will find all the necessary resources to ensure the necessary level of financing and logistical support to the National Police," he said.

Ukraine began a much-touted reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including the National Police in 2015. In Kiev, officers were equipped with new patrol cars, and received new uniforms. Tens of thousands of police employees across the country were let go or lustrated, and replaced with young, photogenic officers, who quickly became the source of ridicule for their inexperience, poor knowledge of the law, and utter inability to deal with the rising crime rate.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gives the thumbs up as he poses with newly graduated police officers during an official ceremony in Kiev, on July 4, 2015

© AFP 2023 / SERGEI SUPINSKY

Last year, then-National Police chief Khatia Dekanoidze admitted that a year after reforms were started, the crime rate in the Ukrainian capital jumped by 45%. Dekanoidze was dismissed in November. Before that, her predecessor, Eka Zguladze, the inspiration for the reforms, resigned as deputy interior minister and left for France.

Most Ukrainian political observers say that the additional funding for the police force will be found, probably at the expense of other budgetary spending. Kiev is facing an extremely tight supply of cash amid its ongoing economic crisis.

This week, Foreign Policy magazine obtained a preliminary budget plan from Trump's Budget Office which proposed a 68.8% cut in US economic aid to Kiev, from $570 million this year to just $177 million in 2018. Along with the International Monetary Fund, which demands major austerity reforms in exchange for funding, Washington has become Ukraine's only other major source of lending and economic support.