As Russian forces rapidly advance through Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, frustration is boiling over—not only on the battlefield but within Ukraine’s political leadership. A searing Telegram post by Marianna Bezugla, Member of Parliament and former Deputy Head of the National Security Committee, has gone viral across Ukrainian and diaspora platforms. In her words, the Russian advance isn’t just a military failure—it’s a product of deliberate corruption, neglect, and cynicism at the highest levels of Ukraine’s command structure.

📍 Bezugla’s Post: 

“Do you know why the Russians are advancing so quickly in the Sumy region?
Our generals and the OVA (previously, Artyukh) and local administrations are writing off property like this.
Were the defense lines and fortifications not prepared?
So who will prove it—the Russians already have them.
The brigades are not ready, are they fleeing?
So they have already retreated—go to the occupied territories and investigate whether they fled and were ready.
A perfect cynical schematism of the higher generals and local officials.
Once again.”

This is not a mere expression of concern. Bezugla’s post is a direct accusation: that Ukraine’s leadership—military and civil—has participated in, or allowed, systematic corruption and disorganization, costing territory, lives, and morale.

🛠️ Broken Fortifications, Broken Trust

Bezugla’s first question cuts deep: “Were the defense lines and fortifications not prepared?”

According to public statements by the Sumy regional administration and Ministry of Defense, defensive works were underway earlier in 2025. However, multiple investigative journalists and volunteer military bloggers have noted vast gaps in coverage:

• Mines and anti-tank trenches were missing in key villages near the border.

• Defensive lines were said to exist “on paper” but often had no troops or equipment.

• Some territorial defense units reportedly lacked ammunition, while warehouses were “written off” or moved westward.

Bezugla implies that this wasn’t just incompetence—it was deliberate scheming to misallocate or embezzle resources meant for the front. She names former Sumy OVA head Dmytro Zhyvytskyi and others in  some previous posts as having been involved in “property write-offs” during their terms.

Retreat or Collapse?

Her second jab: “The brigades are not ready, are they fleeing?”

Indeed, Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from several border settlements in Sumy since May 2025. While the General Staff has described this as tactical repositioning, videos and local testimonies from villages like Ryzhivka and Velyka Pysarivka show hurried, chaotic retreats.

This is where Bezugla’s tone sharpens into bitter irony:

“So they have already retreated—go to the occupied territories and investigate whether they fled and were ready.”

The accusation: our leaders will blame soldiers, after failing to equip them, support them, or even secure their defensive positions. She’s calling out a pattern of scapegoating that has emerged in other regions, such as in Kharkiv earlier this year, where generals were detained only after public outrage.

💰 “Writing Off Property”: A Code for Corruption

Bezugla’s phrase, “writing off property,” is more than rhetorical. In Ukraine’s wartime lexicon, it refers to registering assets as lost due to war damage, often to conceal misappropriation. From military vehicles to generators, documents have surfaced over the past year showing local officials filing false destruction claims to launder or resell goods.

In Sumy, multiple depots, housing facilities, and even fortified checkpoints were reportedly “destroyed”—but without evidence of shelling. Bezugla is implying that these locations were deliberately stripped or sold off, weakening the local defense in exchange for personal profit.

📢 Free Speech and the Cost of Silence

One of the post’s broader implications touches on the erosion of accountability in wartime Ukraine—and how Western nations may have enabled it.

Ukraine’s allies have repeatedly emphasized the need to “limit disinformation.” Yet, in practice, this has often meant silencing dissenting journalists, banning local Telegram channels, and cutting off access to battlefield reports under the guise of national security.

But as Bezugla’s post makes clear: free speech is not a threat—it’s a weapon against corruption.

In a functioning democracy, officials who fail to fulfill their responsibilities with competence and integrity should face public scrutiny. When journalists are discouraged or penalized for reporting uncomfortable truths, the real disinformation wins—because no one knows what to believe anymore.