Remember when a leaked document revealed the U.S. was worried about corruption in Ukraine?

In October 2023, a leaked secret version of a U.S. strategy document exposed Washington's long-term strategy for Ukraine and revealed that officials in Biden were concerned corruption in the country could be a major problem for Kyiv and one that could cause its allies to abandon Ukraine's cause.

Politico reported at the time that U.S. officials were more worried about Ukrainian corruption than had been previously let on in public based on the contents of the leaked document that detailed several measures Washington wanted to take in order to help authorities in Kyiv reform the country. 

The leaked document was marked as sensitive but not classified and laid out America’s long-term strategy to tackle corruption in Ukraine and rebuild the country. Politico noted that the document also linked further aid to Ukraine to the country's ability to tackle corruption. 

Politico included a short passage from the document that revealed officials in the United States were worried that perceptions of high-level corruption in Ukraine could “undermine the Ukrainian public’s and foreign leaders’ confidence in the war-time government.”

This private version of the document doesn’t contrast well with a public version of the document released by the State Department on August 29th. The document was a part of the department's Integrated Country Strategies program.

Integrated Country Strategies are exactly what they sound like and are four-year program strategies that articulate "the U.S. priorities in a given country." The strategy plans focus on specific mission goals and objectives according to the State Department’s website.

Ukraine’s Integrated Country Strategy focused on four main missions that were meant to guide Kyiv in building a new Ukraine from the ashes of the war, one that U.S. officials want to be linked far more closely to the Western world.  

“President Zelenskyy campaigned on a promise to clean up corruption and remains publicly committed to rebuilding a Ukraine that benefits all of society. Ukraine cannot afford to push reforms to a post-war period,” the public document read at the time.  

“The country must lay the framework to win the future even now,” the report continued. “Rebuilding the Ukraine that was flying in the face of the Ukrainian public’s long-held desire to pivot to Europe and integrate to the West.”

The first of the two missions U.S. strategists set out for Kyiv included: 1) Win the War through setting battlefield conditions that result in a just and lasting peace; and, 2) Win the Peace through strengthening Ukraine's civil society and implementing anti-corruption reforms.

The third and fourth missions set out for Ukraine included: 3) Hold Russia Accountable for the damages it caused; and, 4) Account for U.S. Taxpayers the costs that were incurred to achieve results for Ukraine. 

Ukraine’s Integrated Country Strategy outlined how Ukraine needed to strengthen its democratic institutions and implement anti-corruption reforms across a variety of sectors to win the peace while adding that robust monitoring systems would be put in place. 

One main objective for the U.S. was to build Ukraine’s regulatory oversight ability so that those who commit “malfeasance or misfeasance” in the country can be held accountable to the taxpayers who are funding Kyiv’s continued ability to fight the war. 

While the public document set out a comprehensive assessment of Ukraine’s path to a lasting victory that will transform society, the 'sensitive' version of the document turned out to be three times longer than the 22-page public version. 

Politico noted that the private version contained “many more” details about what the U.S. wants to do in Ukraine and how officials want to transform Ukrainian society. Everything from the privatization of banking to teaching more English was included. 

“Many goals are designed to reduce the corruption that bedevils the country,” Politico’s Nahal Toosi wrote. This may explain why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went on a public crusade to root out corruption in Ukraine in 2023. 

In January 2023, Zelensky launched an anti-corruption drive that BBC News reported kicked off with the resignation or termination of 11 government officials. Since then, Zelesnky has fired all 24 heads of the country’s recruitment offices, the New York Times noted. 

Toosi also noted that “U.S. strategy appears intent on ensuring that Ukraine not only retains its orientation toward the West but that it develops special ties with America,” and officials have already begun transforming the country. 

The leaked version of Integrated Country Strategy indicates U.S. officials were working to provide technical aid to improve English training in the country, helping Ukraine prosecute war crimes committed in the country, and assisting in clearing a backlog of 9000 judicial complaints.