Ukraine pledges sweeping personnel changes as allies jostle over tanks

By Tom Balmforth and Oleksandr Kozhukhar KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said personnel changes were being carried out at senior and lower

levels, a move that follows the most high-profile graft allegations since Russia's invasion nearly a year ago. Ukraine has a long history of corruption and shaky governance.

On Sunday, anti-corruption police said they had detained the deputy infrastructure minister on suspicion of receiving a $400,000 kickback over the import of generators last

September, an allegation the minister denies. Separately, a newspaper investigation accused the Defence Ministry of overpaying suppliers for soldiers' food. The supplier has

said it made a technical mistake and no money had changed hands. "There are already personnel decisions - some today, some tomorrow - regarding officials at various levels

in ministries and other central government structures, as well as in the regions and in law enforcement," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Monday. The

corruption scandal could dampen Western enthusiasm for his government just as European countries bicker over sending German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. One of the most

widely used Western tanks, Ukraine says it needs them to break through Russian lines and recapture territory this year. Ukraine and Russia are both believed to be planning

spring offensives to break the deadlock in what has become a war of attrition in eastern and southern Ukraine as the first anniversary of the Russian invasion

nears.